By Kebba Secka
The Commissioner for ID cards, Mr Ebrima Manneh, on Thursday 6 December, confirmed the non-processing of cards at the Kanifing South Branch for four hours. Manneh made these statements known to the public following a visit by this reporter to verify the information of the non-issuing of ID cards.
During the interview, Commissioner Manneh said, he informed the waiting crowd that the Computer Servers were at fault but the technicians were working hard to restore normalcy. “I think, it will not be fair enough to keep the crowd waiting without informing them of the fault of our computers so that if they so wish they can go about other transactions before the machines resume operation. This is why I faced the crowd and I informed them and I will narrate the same to you as I told them,” he explained to this reporter.
Asked whether the ID cards Processing Centre in Banjul was operating during the time Kanifing Branch was not operating, Manneh said the server is the controller of the computers and when it fails it affects the other centre. When asked to shed light on the rumour that Gambia government failed to meet part payment agreement with Semlex as the cause of the non-issuing of ID cards, Manneh said: “I’ll vehemently deny it or even if it happens, I’m not aware of it.”
Isatou Jallow and Momodou Alpha Bah who spoke to this reporter confirmed that there was no processing of ID cards on Thursday morning but later in the day, processing had begun. Saidou Sowe said: “I met people when I was coming and they informed me that the computers had some fault and they were under repairs. I said to myself that I must reach the place to find out for myself. Thank God that the computers have now resumed to normalcy,” he said. Khadijatou and Modou Ceesay informed this reporter that the turnout is low due to the faulty computers. Ceesay said: “Most of the people left as soon as the Commissioner informed the gathering about the condition of the computers.”
The Commissioner stressed that the general public is informed that the processing of ID cards that was ‘technically interrupted’ has now been restored to normalcy. He urged anybody willing to apply for ID cards at the Kanifing Branch to visit the Centre.
