The 2026 review of the airport security fee contract

What the review covers

Premier News SL published the notice on 6 July 2026 under the byline of Matthew Bakarr, with the text credited to George M.O. Williams ¹. The notice was issued on 3 July 2026 and suspends the fee "effective Monday, 6th July 2026" until further notice ¹. It set out three aims, given here in the notice's words where the site's style rules allow ¹.

• A full review of "the current contract framework" ¹.
• The completion of "an ongoing independent Special Audit by the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL)" ¹.
• To assess a more integrated fee collection system "aimed at reducing inconvenience for passengers" ¹.

What continues during the review

The ministry said the suspension "does not amount to the termination of the existing operating contract" ¹. Securiport (SL) Limited keeps running its core background technology work, including logging inbound and outbound passenger traffic data, excluding holders of diplomatic passports ¹. Airport authorities were directed to comply in full "to guarantee a smooth transition" ¹.

Pan African Visions, as reported by Ishmael Sallieu Koroma on 5 July 2026, said Securiport (SL) Limited officials stated that the suspension does not end the contract and that the company will keep providing passenger data management and other security technology services during the review ². It gave no direct quote from the ministry or the company ². It said the government had not indicated when the review will be completed ². It said it was unclear whether the fee would be abolished, changed or reinstated ². This site found no published result of the special audit and no new fee notice as of 24 October 2026.

How the arrangement changed over time

The 2017 report says airlines collected the fee from passengers ⁵. The 2022 ministry notice says the government had met the cost since 2016 ³. The sources do not explain the difference. The 2022 notice said the government could no longer meet the original cost per passenger and cited the global economic downturn ³.

Positions on the suspension

On 20 June 2026 the Audit Committee of the Immigration Department inspected Securiport equipment at the airport, including enrolling cameras, scanners, monitors and electronic gate booths, and found all of it in good working order ⁷. The Immigration Department says the equipment was provided by Securiport ⁷. The committee advised the airport team to create more space for visa sticker machines ⁷.

Hawa Koroma, executive director of the Civil Society Consortium on Internal Security, asked the government to reverse or reconsider the suspension, in an interview on 3 July 2026 reported by Matthew Bakarr for Premier News on 9 July 2026 ⁶. She cited national security, public health and smooth operations at the main entry point ⁶. That report described the notice as suspending both the security tax and Securiport's operations at the airport, which differs from the ministry wording reported on 6 July 2026 that the contract continues ^1,6.

Pan African Visions quoted a traveller, Abdul Kamara, who called the move long overdue and said travellers paid the fee without services such as free Wi-Fi ². These are the views of the people quoted.

Audit findings about the company elsewhere

In February 2023 press reports described findings by The Gambia's National Audit Office about a Securiport security fee project at Banjul International Airport ^8,9. These findings concern The Gambia, not Sierra Leone.

Gambiana, as reported by Adama Makasuba on 8 February 2023, said auditors found no matching receipts for some deposits and had not received bank statements for January to May 2021 ⁹. It said Securiport was asked for comment and reported no reply ⁹. The Point, as reported by Adama Tine on 10 February 2023, said the auditors recommended a full government review of the project through the Directorate of PPP ⁸. The Point did not report a response from Securiport or the Gambian government ⁸.