The minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, yesterday disclosed before deputies that the government has issued 3,030 diplomatic passports from January 2017 to October 2024.
He added that the diplomatic passports were issued based on criteria established by the government and the following officials are qualified:
"Senior Government Officials, Members of Parliament, Diplomats, Presidential and Government Advisors, Special Appointments. Applicants who require a formal recommendation from their institution to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under approval or otherwise done by the Office of the President."
Foreign Affairs Minister stated that the President also has the powers to approve the issuance of a diplomatic passport to any individual at his discretion.
"We assess the issuance of diplomatic passports based on the recommendation of institutions for certain categories of civil servants. And then we forward it to the Office of the President for approval."
"If it is approved, we do not have any problem issuing it. Gambians also who are in the international arena can enjoy that privilege but subject to the approval of the Office of the President," he further explained.
The minister was asked to share the list of individuals who were issued these passports after the ordinary session. However, he said his ministry will have to relate with the Immigration Department as they are the ones with the database.
Nominated Member Fatoumata Jawara asked whether the Gambian laws qualify a single person to acquire two diplomatic passports.
Responding to that, the Minister said. "There is nothing wrong with that. I think ministers, I will give the example about myself, I have two diplomatic passports. Sometimes you travel and another passport is sent to admission for a visa and they have the same name. However, I cannot use both at the same time anyway," he highlighted.
The minister further shed light on the government's attendance at the 2024 UN General Assembly.
He explained that The Gambia's participation at the 2024 United Nations General Assembly meeting, commonly referred to as UNGA, comprised a high-powered delegation headed by His Excellency the President to attend the general debate and a number of high-level events including the Summit for the Future.
He cited other meetings such as the total elimination of nuclear weapons; high-level plenary meetings on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise, high-level meetings on anti-microbial resistance, private sector forum of the Summit of the Future, and main committee meetings of the UNGA 79th Session among others as highlights of UNGA.
"This year's UNGA also coincided with the campaign for my candidacy to the position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and as such, the delegation also included some team members to have bilaterals with delegations that we were seeking support from others since we were able to visit only one single capital during our campaign," he said.
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"It is also worth noting that the UNGA is not limited to high-level meetings alone, as it includes main committee meetings of the United Nations. Accordingly, the delegation is divided into two groups," he said.
"The first group participated in the high-level segment of the UNGA, while the second group participated in the inaugural meetings of the committees. As requested, the list of officials that attended the 2024 UNGA is duly provided to this August Assembly in written form."
