“Government Officials Linked to U.S. Visa Overstays” – Foreign Minister Kabba

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Timothy Kabba, has said that some government officials are linked to the country’s U.S. visa overstay problems.

In an online interview program, Kabba explained that certain permanent secretaries have added unauthorized names to official government travel lists. This practice has led to misuse of travel privileges and caused difficulties with visa compliance.

He also revealed that in some cases, passports of ordinary citizens were submitted as if they belonged to senior officials. This made it hard to track who was traveling on behalf of the government.

To address the issue, Kabba introduced a new rule requiring all government travel requests to be reviewed directly by his office before approval.

The minister also noted that visa overstays are not only a government problem. Some businesspeople and private citizens have also stayed longer than their visas allow, adding to the issue.