The Edward Francis Small Center for Rights & Justice has today formally submitted Access to Information (ATI) requests to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Gambia Immigration Department seeking full disclosure on the issuance, cancellation, and management of diplomatic passports from 2017 to date.
The requests specifically call for:
• Annual totals of diplomatic passports issued and revoked;
• Eligibility criteria, approval processes, and recall procedures;
• Actions taken following the National Audit Office’s 2017–2019 special audit; and
• Current status and judgments of court cases arising from the diplomatic passport scandal.
EFSCRJ emphasizes that these requests seek aggregate, non-personal information in line with the Access to Information Act, 2021, which guarantees every citizen’s right to know how public power is exercised.
Transparency around diplomatic passports is vital to protect national integrity, prevent abuse of privilege, and rebuild public trust in state institutions.
EFSCRJ will publish all responses received, and where access is denied, will pursue statutory review before the Information Commission.
Transparency is a duty, not a choice. The Gambia deserves the truth.
