Over the years, the Liberia Immigration Service has provided services to individuals residing and doing business (For-profit and not-for-profit); it also handles diplomatic and religious settings. This is enshrined within the law: Aliens and Nationality Law was amended in 1975, and the Liberia Immigration Service Act was enacted in July 2016. The law clearly states how an alien can be granted Entry, Admission, and Departure under Part II caption: IMMIGRATION. In addition to the already existing law in the books, the Immigration Act reinforces this mandate and is spelled out as one of the functions under section 22.112.
Given the need to improve the system and the issuance of resident permit in a more organized way with less time consumption, the LIS embarked on soliciting bids from local and international groups to take on said task. CONTEC GLOBAL was hired to create a system to improve the process and digitize the resident card nationwide.
Since October 2021, when the agreement was first signed, which is stipulated in the said contract with CONTEC GLOBAL LIBERIA as the effective date, which brings into force and binding on all parties, CGL has failed to kick off their agreed tasks and function as spelled out in their contract. It was not until December of 2023 that an office to process resident cards was heard about. And even more so, up until now, not ten cards have been seen in the hands of aliens desirous of acquiring or maintaining Liberia resident status. First, the contract with Contec Global Liberia as of its effective date should have been in full swing.
Challenges Faced By the CONTEC GLOBAL LIBERIA: The Liberia Perspective
Every journey in life has a challenge, and the situation with the Immigration Resident cards is no exception. It is widely believed that CGL lacks the capacity and the proficiency to expeditiously take on the task of producing resident cards for desirable aliens in Liberia. All spheres across the Alien Community are greatly affected by the embarrassing situation, and we are going to take the Alien Community into subsets:
- Business Community- This is the component of the group that the National Government depends on for tax payment, among other things. They immensely contribute to the growth and expansion of the Liberia Economy by contributing millions of dollars in high currency to the National budget. The failure to produce resident cards for the said body of people is impeding the revenue generation by the LIS, thereby strangulating the Government to implement and execute its plans and goals. Since December 2023, all businesses were advised to engage the new system (Digital Resident Card), but up to the present, none has been issued, and the Government is losing on a day-to-day basis; millions in revenue the records are written with the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRS). No money from the Resident perspective in entering into the National coffers. Groups such as SETHI Brother, Arcelor Mittal, Bea Mountain, Jetty Trading, etc., have severe problems with how CGL set up their account, making it difficult to pay fees and others to the revenue 2024.
- Diplomatic Missions- this group cements the links and bonds between Liberia and the rest of the world; they owe the right and privilege to live and operate from Liberia in our system of governance. Liberia benefits come in returns on friendly government investment or rendering aids to improve the livelihood of other Liberians in need. We understand that the CONTEC GLOBAL LIBERIA did not capture them in its plan for resident holders and began by demanding these institutions pay fees. Something that later did not work, but up to the present and the composition of this critique, the US Embassy, Swedish, ECOWAS Commission, and other Diplomatic Missions are yet to receive their card, which they claim are ZERO PERCENT GRATIS.
- Religious/ Other NGOs – this component of the Alien Community teaches morals and enhances better living conditions for all in the society. They are also victimized in the process. CGL has failed to provide a legal resident card for some community members.
- LIS Family – Everyone is seriously challenged as the LIS family has failed to inspect the Alien document properly, and it seems like the fault is emanating from our Service. The LIS Acting Leadership has received several complaints from the public concerning this process. Immigration officers cannot correctly execute that statutory function as doing so could be tampering with the rights of an alien.
Challenge to reach the LRA target
It is evident that given the current state of affairs at the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), where a group has denied the National Government her lawful revenue, the projection for immigration in these few months WILL drop. The Service has technically been unable to enforce, especially regarding illegal residents or aliens.
In the past, it has been noticed that more work for residents has been done within the first few months of the year.
Immigration resident documents are needed in some countries of origin as proof of lawful obedience to the law of the Country where a particular country’s citizen resides. For example, Syria, Lebanon, India, etc have set this as a requirement for reentry in a specific country, while others restrict a traveling tourist from entry, except such a person obtains a resident from the Country of their passageway, like Cote d’Ivoire.
All these aspects draw out revenue for the Government of Liberia.
By Randolph Kemokai
