Leader of Sierra Leone’s main opposition party in Parliament, the All People’s Congress, Abdul Kargbo, has raised legal and administrative concerns over a recent immigration directive requiring airlines operating at Freetown International Airport to verify the authenticity of passengers’ residence and work permits before boarding.
In a statement issued today on his Facebook page following the circulation of the notice signed by Harry Cowan, Head of Immigration at the airport, Kargbo said the directive appeared to shift immigration enforcement responsibilities from the state to private airline operators.
The notice warned airlines that failure to ensure passengers carried authentic residence and work permits could result in a US$3,000 fine imposed on the “defaulting flight”.
Kargbo argued that airlines are neither legally mandated nor technically equipped to authenticate Sierra Leone immigration documents, adding that such responsibilities ordinarily fall under the authority of the Immigration Department.
He also questioned the legal basis for the threatened penalties, noting that the notice did not reference any law, regulation, statutory instrument, or government policy authorising the sanctions.
The opposition lawmaker further raised concerns about whether the Head of Immigration at the airport possessed the authority to issue binding directives to international airlines, saying measures of that nature would typically come from the Chief Immigration Officer or central government authorities.
He additionally criticised the operational ambiguity of the directive, pointing to the absence of a verification mechanism, hotline, digital authentication system, or official process airlines could use to confirm the validity of residence and work permits.
The notice also stated that passengers’ luggage could be offloaded “no matter the time” if permits were later found to be inauthentic.
Kargbo said the wording and presentation of the document risked undermining confidence in state institutions, describing the communication as poorly drafted and lacking the professional and legal standards expected in directives addressed to international carriers.
He said efforts to combat document fraud and strengthen immigration controls were necessary, but argued that enforcement measures must be lawful, operationally practical, and institutionally coordinated.
