QUESTION OF THE DAY
Gambians have the right of residence in any part of the country. Many people who originated from other regions are currently resident in the Kanifing Municipality. Complaints are emerging that people are being asked to ferry their parents from the regions to come to attest to the citizenship of their children before they could acquire ID cards.
This means that people of regional origin will either have to wait until ID cards are being issued in their regions or go back to those regions to get their parents to witness them at their place of birth in order to get ID cards. In either case they will be spending twice as much money to get ID cards compared to those who are originally resident in the place of issue.
Section 26 paragraph (c) of the Constitution states:
“Every citizen of The Gambia of full age and capacity shall have the right, without unreasonable restrictions to have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in The Gambia.”
The Constitution is very clear. Those who issue ID cards should not place any unnecessary restrictions on Gambian citizens who appear to request for their services. They are entitled to be treated equally with others. They should not pay more for a service or incur more cost to get the same service.
Should service providers request of claimants to come all the way from up country in order to attest to the citizenship of their children or should other means of providing evidence be provided that would not be burdensome to the parents? Foroyaa will get in touch with the authorities to find out how they intend to deal with such a challenge.
