The claim that The Gambia issued 20,000 diplomatic passports to citizens and non-Gambians since 2017, no matter how wild it sounds, deserves immediate clarification from the Gambia government.
Respected Senegalese journalist Ahmed Äidara, quoting a source from The Gambia, said this week that The Gambia has reportedly granted diplomatic passports to even citizens of countries with a damaged reputation for narco-trade.
We here at JollofNews are well aware that supporters of the ruling party, relatives of the President and businessmen have been granted Gambian diplomatic passports. However, what we do not know is the alleged issuance of the country’s diplomatic passports to citizens of Venezuela and Mexico. Is it true that President Adama Barrow had actually approved the granting of diplomatic passports to nationals of the aforementioned countries? And if so, why?
Nationals of Senegal, China and Vietnam are said to be proud holders of the Gambia’s diplomatic passport.
It may be convenient for the government to dismiss these claims as fiction or figments of someone’s imagination, but that will not go any far as to assuage the doubts of those in whose minds these claims have planted doubt.
The government will do itself a favour by making available for public consumption a comprehensive data on diplomatic passport issuance since 2017. This is as important as it is necessary because a diplomatic passport is not for every Tom, Dick and Harry.
