The Banjul airport security contract with Securiport

Who the parties are

The contract is between the Government of The Gambia and Securiport. The National Audit Office (NAO) records that the government signed it on 20 June 2018. It names the Office of the President, Ministry of Interior and Immigration as contracting bodies ^1,12.

President Adama Barrow described Securiport as a US company and said it does similar work in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and other countries in the region ⁵.

The government announced the Immigration Security System Levy with immediate effect on 9 September 2020. Each arriving and each departing passenger was to pay US$20 at booths in the airport ¹⁰.

What the contract covers

The NAO described the contract as covering civil aviation and immigration security services and e-visa management under a build-maintain-transfer model ¹².

The NAO called for better training of immigration officers so they can set up and manage the Immigration Information Control System servers and databases ¹².

President Barrow said Securiport collects data, but the Gambia Immigration Department keeps all of it ⁵. Presidential adviser Sulayman Camara said Securiport is linked to Interpol, the State Intelligence Services and the police through a shared database ⁶.

How the money is meant to flow

The contract provides for a jointly managed account. Securiport receives 75 percent, or US$15, and the GCAA receives 25 percent, or US$5, from each US$20 fee ¹².

The contract required the government to direct airlines to collect the fee. The NAO found that an IATA code was not obtained, so Securiport staff collected the fee at the terminal. Securiport said manual collection was approved and mandated by GCAA. GCAA said physical collection had government approval ^3,12.

GCAA told the audit that joint GTBank accounts were operating by June 2022, all deposits were being paid into them and the earlier 25 percent government share had been paid. The auditor said government still did not participate directly in collection, so that part of the finding remained unresolved when the report was completed ¹².

In June 2023 the Ministry of Interior said it had not approved a rise in the fee. Securiport said the contract sets the fee at US$20 ⁷.

Dubawa reported that the contract lists five exempt passenger categories and that diplomatic passport holders are not among them. Government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh said diplomatic passport holders do not pay, and that an addendum removed an exemption first planned for service passport holders ⁴.

Oversight questions recorded in the audit

• One clause absolves Securiport of liability for delays in providing services. Another holds the government to account for a delay in collecting the fee ¹².
• Securiport relied on a contract clause to seek D164,053,036 for delayed implementation. The company said the government liability followed the failure to secure an IATA code and that government bodies checked the figures. The auditor maintained that legal advice should have been sought before payment ^2,12.
• The contract term moved from 10 to 15 years after delayed implementation. The NAO said this exposed the government to high termination costs ¹².
• The NAO said the agreement may lack sufficient indemnity clauses ¹².
• The NAO said no detailed technical and financial proposal was supplied to its team by the government bodies or Securiport ¹². These are findings about the records available to the audit, not a finding that the system was not operating.

Procurement history and subsequent review

The NAO found that the security initiative began with an unsolicited proposal in 2016 and was not subjected to competitive bidding. Ministry of Justice letters in 2016, 2017 and 2018 urged due diligence and changes to the proposed agreement. The audit said the contracting bodies signed without taking that advice into account ¹².

A government task force recommended replacing the 15 percent sales tax on air tickets with the security fee. The NAO said the Office of the President gave executive approval to proceed without that change ¹².

Mr Camara said single sourcing is used on security matters ⁶.

The NAO recommended participation by the finance and justice ministries and a full review through the Directorate of PPP ¹². The Office of the President later asked the Ministry of Justice to lead a joint review with the relevant institutions ¹¹.

Official responses

The NAO management letter records responses beside the findings. Securiport said the lack of an IATA code led to manual collection, GCAA approved that collection and funds due to government remained available. GCAA said the joint-account arrangement was in place and earlier government shares had been paid. The auditors accepted some deposit evidence but kept other findings open where evidence was missing or the response did not answer the point ¹².

On 27 September 2022 The Point reported a letter from the Office of the President, signed by Chief of Staff Mod K. Ceesay. It asked the Ministry of Justice to lead a joint review of the contract with Securiport, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the GCAA and others. The review was to improve the terms where possible and consider embedding the fee in the ticket ¹¹. This site found no published outcome.

Dubawa reported in March 2023 that the government issued a press statement on 15 February denying corruption allegations ⁴.

On 21 March 2023 President Barrow defended the contract on grounds of national security. He said talks were under way to embed the fee in air tickets ⁵.

On 28 March 2023 Mr Camara called the audit report half-baked, saying it did not include the management's response ⁶. A Securiport consultant told Dubawa the company oversees collections on behalf of both parties ⁴.

On 15 January 2026 Information Minister Ismaila Ceesay described the arrangement as a public-private concession with revenue shared between the government and the private partner. He said the government was working to include the fee in the ticket price ⁸. The UK government still listed the fee as payable at kiosks in July 2026 ⁹.