Discussion about Securiport at Freetown International Airport often brings the passenger security fee, eVisa revenue, immigration equipment, aviation security and the government contract into one argument.

The passenger fee, eVisa records and border equipment each require a separate evidence trail.

The records show why these subjects must be examined separately. An audit finding about missing financial documents does not answer whether airport equipment worked on a later inspection date. An equipment inspection cannot close an audit question about revenue. A decision about how passengers pay a fee does not describe every service operating behind the immigration desk.

Readers can reach a firmer view when each claim is matched to the record that can prove it.

The airport debate contains several different questions

The first question concerns the airport security fee. The public needs a current notice stating the amount, who must pay, who is exempt, where payment is made and whether the charge appears in an airline ticket. The record should identify the public authority that approved the instruction and the account into which collections are paid.

The second question concerns eVisas. This requires the number of applications received, decisions made and visas issued, followed by payment records, bank or escrow statements, transfers to government and a completed comparison of those figures.

The third question concerns border equipment. Cameras, scanners, monitors and electronic gates are tested through inspections, service logs, incident reports and maintenance records. Those records answer operational questions, not revenue questions.

The fourth question concerns responsibility. Immigration decisions belong to the Sierra Leone Immigration Department. Civil aviation regulation belongs to the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority. Airport management, airlines, auditors and technology providers each perform defined roles. Reporting becomes unreliable when every airport decision is attributed to one organisation.

What the 2023 audit recorded

The Auditor General’s report for 2023 raised a serious records problem in the eVisa programme. The audit section said a Securiport printout showed 4,827 eVisas issued during the year. Management later referred to 4,872 eVisas and stated that NLe7,434,387 had been paid into the Consolidated Fund by 25 June 2024.

The auditor reported that the bank statements, cashbook and independent Immigration Department records needed to check those claims were not supplied during verification. The issue was marked unresolved.

That finding should be reported in full. It shows that the audit team could not complete the financial test using the records provided for the reviewed period. It does not, by itself, prove that every stated payment was false, that money was stolen or that all immigration equipment had failed. Those stronger claims would require separate evidence.

What the 2024 audit added

The 2024 report provides another dated account. It records NLe9,708,321.03 transferred to the Consolidated Fund as revenue described as coming from eVisas. It also records a Securiport printout showing 4,868 eVisas issued in 2024.

The report says the detailed comparison between the value of visas issued and the money transferred was not completed for audit review. It also says that the escrow bank statements and cashbook were not provided at verification. The auditor again marked the issue unresolved and requested the detailed monthly schedules, bank records, cashbook and completed reconciliation statements.

The careful reading is neither an acquittal nor a verdict of theft. Money was recorded as transferred to the Consolidated Fund, yet the full set of records needed to match issuance, value and transfers was not available to the auditor. The open question is a defined accounting question that can be closed only with the requested documents and an independent audit conclusion.

What the June 2026 inspection found

The Sierra Leone Immigration Department published a separate operational record on 20 June 2026. Its Audit Committee inspected equipment at Freetown International Airport, including enrolling cameras, scanners, monitors and electronic gate booths supplied by Securiport.

The committee said the listed equipment observed during the visit was in good working order. It recommended that the airport team create more space for visa sticker machines so that passenger turnaround could improve.

This notice matters because it identifies the inspecting institution, date, location, equipment and result. Its scope must still be respected. It does not settle the 2023 or 2024 eVisa accounts, confirm the condition of every security system in Sierra Leone or guarantee performance after the inspection date.

It does show why a financial finding should not be reported as automatic proof of equipment failure. The two records examine different things.

The fee needs its own current record

Calabash has reported on the US$25 passenger security fee, proposals to place the charge in airline tickets and the July 2026 suspension and contract review. Those stories raised public questions about passenger convenience, the reported K5 ticket mechanism, remittance and government obligations.

The latest authenticated government instruction should control any present statement about the fee. Old payment directions should not be repeated as current advice without checking whether they remain in force.

A complete fee record would show the legal authority, effective date, amount, exemptions, approved collection channel, receiving account, airline treatment and review status. That file should remain separate from the eVisa account and the equipment inspection file, even where the same institutions appear in more than one process.

Each institution should answer for its own record

The Immigration Department should be able to confirm visa decisions, issuance totals and the use of immigration equipment by authorised officers. The responsible financial bodies should show receipts, transfers and government accounts. Audit Service Sierra Leone decides whether the evidence supplied closes an audit recommendation.

The civil aviation regulator oversees aviation safety and security under its legal mandate. Airlines control ticket presentation and passenger booking records. A technology provider can supply systems, maintenance, reports and technical support only within the role assigned by its agreement.

Securiport’s public account of its Sierra Leone work should be read as the company’s account. It can explain what the company says it provides, yet it cannot replace a government notice, an auditor’s conclusion or an airline’s collection record.

The public record supports a precise conclusion

The available evidence supports three statements at the same time. The Auditor General identified unresolved eVisa record and reconciliation gaps for the periods reviewed. The Immigration Department later reported that specified Securiport supplied equipment inspected at Freetown airport was working on the day of its June 2026 visit. The passenger fee and contract review remained a separate public policy matter requiring current official records.

Keeping those statements together without mixing them gives the public a more accurate account. It protects scrutiny because genuine audit questions stay visible. It protects accuracy because an open accounting issue is not stretched into a claim about every system, service or institution at the airport.

The next useful development would be publication of the completed eVisa reconciliation, the current passenger fee instruction and a dated service report for the airport systems. Those records would allow future reporting to move from competing claims to findings that readers can check.

Sources

• Audit Service Sierra Leone, Auditor General Annual Report 2023.
• Audit Service Sierra Leone, Auditor General Annual Report 2024.
• Sierra Leone Immigration Department, Audit Committee inspection at Freetown International Airport, 20 June 2026.
• The Calabash Newspaper, Government Must Ensure 25 Dollar Securiport Service Fee Is Included in Air Ticket Prices, 12 February 2025.
• The Calabash Newspaper, Investigation Reveals Airport Fee Suspension May Trigger Costly Contract Dispute and Renew Focus on Missing K5 Collections, 6 July 2026.
• Securiport, Sierra Leone country information.