The United Democratic Party (UDP) has raised the alarm over the Gambia Immigration Department’s (GID) recent move to deploy a mobile National ID card registration team to Mauritania, labeling it a “calculated scheme” to manipulate the 2026 elections. The Barrow administration claims the initiative aims to “protect Gambians abroad,” but the UDP argues it is a pretext for registering non-Gambians as voters to bolster President Adama Barrow’s re-election bid.
The UDP’s concerns stem from the government’s longstanding refusal to implement diaspora voting, citing logistical and financial constraints. The administration has repeatedly argued that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) lacks the capacity and funding, that diaspora Gambians cannot be linked to constituencies, and that the budget does not support such efforts. Yet, the UDP points out, the government has now mobilized a high-level delegation—including immigration officers, State Intelligence Services (SIS) agents, and Foreign Ministry officials—for an expensive mission to Mauritania to issue National ID cards, bypassing consular IDs or emergency travel documents typically issued by embassies.
“This is not about protecting Gambians abroad,” the UDP stated in a press release. “It is a backdoor attempt to inflate the voter register by registering non-Gambians, particularly in border regions like Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau, to swing votes in favor of President Barrow, as was done in 2021 using fraudulent attestations.”
The UDP questions why National ID cards, meant for citizens within The Gambia, are being issued abroad when mechanisms like consular IDs, emergency passports, and birth certificates already exist for diaspora Gambians. The party argues that National IDs are directly linked to voter registration, making them a tool for electoral manipulation. The choice of Mauritania, home to a significant Gambian migrant population with often unclear documentation, is seen as a testing ground for a broader scheme to be rolled out in neighboring countries.
The UDP alleges the government is expanding the fraudulent attestation system—used in past elections to register ineligible voters—internationally to evade scrutiny. “If the government can afford this costly operation, why hasn’t it ensured all Gambians inside The Gambia have proper IDs?” the UDP asked, highlighting the reliance on attestations due to incomplete ID coverage domestically.
The opposition party has called for immediate action, urging the National Assembly to summon the Minister of Interior and GID Director to clarify the legal basis for issuing IDs abroad, the criteria for verifying citizenship, and the operation’s cost and funding. It also appealed to civil society, the media, and international bodies like ECOWAS, the African Union, and the United Nations to investigate and monitor potential electoral fraud that could destabilize the region.
The UDP warned that this move sets a “dangerous precedent” for democracy in The Gambia. “If Barrow truly cared about Gambians abroad, he would have implemented diaspora voting, not a shady ID issuance scheme,” the party stated. “We will not allow this government to rig another election.”
