The University of the Gambia (UTG) has strongly denied allegations that some of their admissions officers demand bribes from underperforming students to help them enter the country's biggest university.

"The UTG is a respectable academic institution that has a profound role to play in the socio-economic advancement of The Gambia. We are cognizant of the standard of services we provide. Therefore, we jealously guard the integrity of the institution," said the university's communications officer, Musa Bah.

He added: "Over the years, we have been gradually upgrading the quality and standard of operations across the board. Because of this, we introduced a portal system. All applicants to our various programmes do so by logging into our portal system and uploading all the relevant documents.

"These are sent to the respective schools they applied to and they shortlist qualified candidates before the list is sent back to the Admissions Office for issuance of letters of acceptance and those who are rejected are also notified of their status. Admission officers do not have any personal contact with the applicants; this is by all standards a transparent process."

However, a former student of the UTG argued: “I do know of individuals who, as recent as last year, made their way into the university without meeting the basic requirements and undergoing Access."

The University of The Gambia is the first and biggest university in the country with over 7000 students pursuing different programmes ranging from diploma, undergraduate to postgraduate.