Two immigration officers testified in the trial of an immigration officer who allegedly received a bribe in producing a passport for one Mbemba Drammeh before Justice Sidi K. Jobarteh.
The State has pressed charge one one immigration Musa D. Sanyang of Official Corruption, contrary to Section 86(a) of the Criminal Code.
The Bill of Indictment alleges that on 20th January, 2025, while employed in the immigration department as a public servant, Musa Sanyang corruptly received a sum of D40,000 from one Musa Camara. Prosecution contends the payment was a bribe intended to facilitate the illegal production of a machine-readable passport for one Mbemba Drammeh.
When the case was called, counsel M. Jammeh and A. Badjie appeared for the state, while counsel A. Jurju appeared for the accused. The prosecution invited one Mariama Colley, an Immigration Officer stationed at Banjul with 17 years of experience to the witness box and sworn on the Quran to speak the truth.
Mariama Colley recalled an incident from January 2025 involving the accused, who was her colleague. She testified that she was called to the Police Headquarters regarding a passport form for one Mbemba Drammeh.
Upon inspecting the form, she discovered it had been processed by the accused, Musa Sanyang. She explained that the passport panel (consisting of four people) normally checks supporting documents before signing.
Mariama Colley stated that the form in question was first signed by Momodou Jallow (an SIS Officer), and she seconded it with her signature.
She noted that the printing room system shows if a person has an expired or a valid passport. If valid, a police report is required for a new one; if expired, no report is needed.
She informed the court that several staff were in the printing room at the time, including the Accused, Alieu Jatta, Matina Jatta, Secka, Badou Njie, and Habibu Badjie.
During cross-examination, counsel A. Jarju for the accused asked whether she witnessed Musa Sanyang receiving money for the passport. She responded that she did not see the Accused receive money from anyone to print a passport.
On whether Musa Sanyang has even been involved in corrupt practices at work. She stated she had worked with the Accused for less than a year and had never heard of him being involved in corrupt practices before this case.
The witness Mariama Colley was discharged after the defence counsel informed the court that he had no further questions for the witness. Another witness was called to the box.
Alieu Jammeh, an Immigration Officer for 30 years, currently posted at Bansang, took the oath to testify next.
Alieu Jammeh testified that in January 2025, his Commissioner, Amie Sey Kujabi, informed him they needed to report to the Serious Crime Unit.
Upon arrival, to his surprise, at the Police Headquarters, to learn that Bemba Drammeh had been issued a passport. He testified that, despite being a panellist and investigation officer at the time, he had never seen or touched the application form for Mbemba Drammeh.
He detailed the screening process involving interviewing applicants, comparing documents, and requiring two panellist signatures before the Commissioner vets and approves the file.
He testified that Matina and P. Njie were officers who vet documents in the printing room. He explained that the system is designed to trigger an alert if an applicant already holds a valid passport a “problem file” that must be registered and investigated before a new one is printed.
During cross-examination by A. Jarju, the witness was asked how long knew the accused. He stated he had only known the Accused for a short period.
He confirmed he had never heard of the accused being involved in corruption before the incident and never saw the accused collect D40,000 from Musa Camara.
“You have not seen or heard that he has collected D40,000 from one Musa Camara to process a passport?” the defence counsel asked. “I have never seen him,” Alieu Jammeh replied.
The case adjourned to 2nd February, 2026 at 09:00
Musa D. Sanyang first filed a civil suit against the immigration department for wrongful termination. In his statement, Musa D Sanyang stated that he didn’t commit any wrongdoing that should warrant his termination, but rather acted accordingly and in response state filed a criminal case against him.
