By: Alieu Jallow
Abdoulie Keita, a Senegalese national, is currently on trial for three counts related to the creation and use of false documents. The charges, which include making false documents, forgery, and uttering false documents, were presented before Magistrate Touray at the Kanifing Magistrate Court.
The prosecution alleges that in December 2021, Keita made a false American passport bearing his name, which he used to deceive others. In the second count, it is claimed that he forged an American passport with the intent to defraud. The third charge involves Keita allegedly using a fake American passport to mislead a woman named Mamie Fatou Sallah, claiming he was an American citizen working with the National Security Agency deployed in Senegal.
During the proceedings, witness Kemo Dibba, an immigration officer, testified that he received information about Keita’s involvement in document forgery from a colleague in the Gambia Immigration Department. He described how he and his team attempted to locate Keita at his residence but were informed by a watchman that he was not home. They waited for about an hour before a vehicle arrived at the gate.
Upon meeting Keita, Dibba noted that the accused introduced himself as a National Security Agency (NSA) member overseeing operations in The Gambia and Senegal. Keita allegedly showcased various documents, including a laptop and a flat-screen, claiming to send communications. He presented a briefcase containing his birth certificate, a Senegalese passport, an American driving license, and a British passport, all bearing his image.
When questioned about his physical passport, Keita claimed he had left it in Dakar. After reviewing the documents, the officers asked him to go to the nearest immigration station, where they took his statement, charged him, and detained him. Dibba stated that Keita was charged with obtaining Gambian documents without being a Gambian national, as well as possessing a British passport and a fraudulent American driving license.
The case has been adjourned to Wednesday, 13th November, at 1:30 PM for the cross-examination of the witness.
