The Gambia's Securiport audit: findings, responses and where the contract stands

What the audit found

The NAO carried out a special audit under Section 160(1)(c) of the Constitution. The contract, signed with Securiport LLC of Delaware, USA, on 20 June 2018 for 10 years, covers civil aviation and immigration security services and an electronic visa system. The audit examined revenue from 1 September 2019 to 31 May 2021 and ranked 34 findings high priority and 2 medium ¹.

The auditors found that the deal began as an unsolicited proposal from an agent of Securiport to the Office of the President and was not put to competitive bidding. The Public Private Partnership directorate at the Finance Ministry was left out of the negotiation, the technical and financial proposals were never supplied to auditors, and the contract was signed without taking account of the Attorney General's legal advice ¹.

An Attorney General's letter dated 12 July 2016 advised against automatic renewal and a term longer than five years. An addendum signed on 29 March 2019 extended the contract to 15 years. The NAO wrote that this 'exposes government to high termination cost if it chooses to terminate the contract before its term ends' ¹.

The auditors said revenue reported by Securiport fell USD 250,315.93 (D12,928,817.70) short of their estimate, point-of-sale records exceeded bank deposits by D5,580,985 and USD 160,093, and D320,000 of December 2020 collections paid staff salaries. The contract gives 25 percent of the fee to the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The NAO found no transfer of that share from September 2020 to April 2021, and a first payment of D16,452,987.3 on 20 May 2021 ¹.

The audit queried five payments to Securiport Gambia LLC between 16 February 2021 and 9 December 2021 totalling D164,053,036, for revenue the company said it lost from 1 October 2019 to 31 August 2020 when no fee was collected. Securiport had claimed USD 4,529,220 under a clause making government liable if fees went uncollected, after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) did not grant a ticketing code. The NAO said payments should stop until the Attorney General advised, and the money be recovered if the advice favoured government ¹.

The official response

The letter prints management responses for most findings. On the extension, the Office of the President (OP) wrote that 'the justification to extend contract by additional 10 years as a result of late implementation of the project is not considered plausible'. It promised a position paper with the Justice Ministry and administrative action against officers found liable. Several findings record no response ¹.

Securiport's replies appear in the same letter (company statement). It said GCAA had not cooperated in opening a joint account, that funds due to government 'were available in the account' at all times, and that the arrears arose under the contract once government could not secure an IATA code. It wrote: 'NAO cannot take parts of the contract that suits them and ignore other parts.' GCAA told the auditors that joint accounts with both parties as signatories had been in place 'since June 2022' and that the 25 percent share collected before then had been paid. Securiport put the start of the joint account at May 2021 ¹.

On 27 September 2022 the Office of the President asked the Ministry of Justice to lead a joint review aimed at 'improving the terms of the contract where possible' and moving the fee into air tickets, as reported by Dawda Jallow in The Point ². A government press release published by The Point on 15 February 2023 said the report was 'originally published in November 2022', that the auditors 'adjudged that this is a force majeure issue', and that a taskforce would renegotiate the contract ⁵.

Malagen reported on 24 October 2022 that President Adama Barrow told Gambians in New York in September 2022 that the fee 'has to be there' and that 'how it is collected is what is flawed'. It rated the comments misleading ⁴. On 21 March 2023 The Point reported that Barrow defended the USD 20 charge as needed for security ⁸.

Presidential adviser Sulayman Camara said the audit 'does not incorporate the management's response', as reported by Momodou Jawo in The Point on 28 March 2023 ⁹. The published letter does print responses from the OP, GCAA and Securiport ¹. Former Auditor General Karamba Touray told Kerr Fatou, as reported by Buba Gagigo on 14 March 2023, that 'the moment I looked at it, I said this is a scam' and that he had advised State House to 'scrap this' ⁶. On 20 March 2023 he wrote that management 'is always accorded the opportunity to react to management letter points before the conclusion of the audit' ⁷.

Securiport's lawyers, Gomez Law Chambers, wrote that the company 'has operated according to the agreement with the Government of the Gambia', as reported by The Standard on 23 September 2022 and republished by Africa Press (company statement) ³. On 2 June 2023 The Point carried a Securiport statement that the fee 'remains at US$20' and that a rise from D1,000 to D1,200 reflected the exchange rate (company statement) ¹⁰.

Parliament

The government's statement of 15 February 2023 said the National Assembly's Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) discussed the report, including 'the recovery of D164m unjustifiably paid to Securiport' ⁵. No FPAC report on Securiport was found. No public record found of its recommendations as of 19 October 2026.

On 26 September 2024 Interior Minister Abdoulie Sanyang told the National Assembly that 'presently there is an ongoing bid' and that 10 companies, four of them Gambian, had bought bid documents, as reported by Jankey Ceesay in The Point. He said negotiations to put the fee in the ticket price were continuing ¹¹.

The Standard reported on 6 July 2026, by Tabora Bojang, that the Public Enterprises Committee chaired by Lamin J Sanneh, in its report on 2022 state-owned enterprise accounts, advised the Finance, Interior and Works ministries to review the contract and consider possible termination. It said GCAA gets no rent or commission from Securiport and transferred D43,824,494.38 to government as its share for July to December 2022 ¹².

Follow-up audits and recommendations

The letter records an NAO physical check on 31 May 2022. Securiport had said antivirus software was running on all workstations, and the auditors wrote that 'the issue remained unresolved' ¹. No published NAO follow-up audit of the contract was found. No public record found as of 19 October 2026 of whether the arrears payments stopped, whether the D164,053,036 was recovered, or whether the OP position paper was produced.

Courts, tribunals and investigations

The NAO recommended an investigation to find who disregarded the Attorney General's advice, and the OP response said such an investigation would follow the review ¹. No public record found of that investigation's outcome, of any court case or arbitration, or of a referral to prosecutors as of 19 October 2026.

Where it stands now

The Standard reported on 6 July 2026 that Securiport still collects a USD 20 fee from arriving and departing passengers ¹². No public record found of a government decision on the termination recommendation, or of the result of the 2024 bid, as of 19 October 2026 ¹¹.

Revenue split, side by side: the contract clause quoted by the NAO gives 75 percent (USD 15) to Securiport and 25 percent (USD 5) to GCAA ¹. No source opened for this page gave a different percentage. Reports differ on timing and on who keeps the 25 percent. Securiport dates the joint account to May 2021 and GCAA to June 2022 ¹. The Public Enterprises Committee said in July 2026 that GCAA passes the share to government and keeps nothing ¹².

Other conflicts. Karamba Touray spoke of 'this D149million' paid for the delay ⁶, against D164,053,036 in the NAO tables ¹. Malagen said Securiport had operated at the airport since 2017 ⁴, against a contract signed on 20 June 2018 and booth collections from September 2020 in the NAO letter ¹. The government said in February 2023 that the auditors treated the delay as force majeure ⁵. The NAO's own comment says government 'should not have agreed to pay any accrued arrears' ¹. The Standard dated the NAO report to 2023 ¹², against November 2022 in the government statement ⁵.

Timeline