Immigration poised to raise billions for Salone

In an effort to contribute to national development and sustainable economic growth, Sierra Leone’s Chief Immigration Officer, (CIO) Mr. Alpha Kolifa Koroma has disclosed that his department is on the verge of raising approximately 13-14 billion Leones for 2012. (Photo: Kolifa and the impounded passport)

The said amount quadruples the revenue generated by the Immigration department before Mr. Koroma took over the leadership four years ago.

According to the CIO, efforts in trying to reignite the process of revenue collection have brought considerable benefits to the country. He attributed it to the recent financial gains the immigration department has made within his tenure of office, which he said speak volumes. “Before my assumption of duty, the immigration has never raised beyond a billion Leones per year. But now we are talking about top billions and even beyond,” he stated.

Mr. Koroma was speaking to this writer shortly after a verification exercise in Dortmund Germany. The exercise was carried out to ascertain the authenticity of people holding Sierra Leonean Passports, and at the same time, legitimizing the nationality of Sierra Leoneans living across Germany.

He said, the process of identifying people claiming to be Sierra Leoneans is challenging, but expressed confidence that his wealth of experience, coupled with professional understanding, has enabled him to distinguish the tilted expression of most foreign nationalities.

“I am not a professional linguist but have been very much skeptical about the manner and expressions of their dictum on many occasions,” he said stressing further that such expressions made it easier for him to distinguish between people who are not Sierra Leoneans.

The Chief emphasized the importance of such exercise which he said, is necessary thus dismissing claims made by people who are not citizens of his country. If proper scrutiny is not done to those people Mr. Koroma went on, their claims would remain tangible and as such, travel documents will be given to them to acquire Sierra Leonean status in Germany.

For those who had already acquired travel documents but are not Sierra Leonean citizens, “…it is easier for us to impound those documents and take them to Sierra Leone,” he opined.

Meanwhile, the Immigration Chief has impounded two Sierra Leonean Passports from non-citizens in Germany.

Mr. Koroma has been extremely instrumental in establishing strict measures regarding the issuance of Sierra Leonean Passports and also ensuring that they are in the hands of rightful citizens abroad.

When asked about the mechanisms he has in place to curb such irregularities, the CIO said besides the punitive measures set aside to deal with immigration officers who fall short within the law, effective monitoring and evaluation exercises are being carried out in all Immigration centres across the country to track down the illegal issuance of Sierra Leonean passports.

It could be recalled that Sierra Leone Passports were in the hands of non-citizens across the globe, but since tough measures were taken to minimise such anomaly, the country and its people can once again be proud of their national identity.

Due to the fact that Sierra Leone Passports are no longer over utilized by foreign nationals, they have received international recognition and fortified the relationship with immigration services in Europe and elsewhere. This is a clear indication that the Sierra Leone Immigration has a leadership with a vision to restore sanity and maintain the country’s dignity.

The Chief Immigration Officer is now working tirelessly to ensuring that professionalism becomes a norm within his department. “My drive is towards professionalising the institution and to get as many of our immigration personnel to be well equipped on immigration matters.

Mr. Koroma was accompanied by his Principal Immigration Officer for Western Area/Regions, Kadie Sesay, Head of Foreign Nationals Unit, Mr. Kabbah Issa Bangura and the Head of CPU Mr. Salifu Conteh.

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