Monrovia – Foreigners from other African countries, mainly West Africa, have found a new shortcut to becoming a ‘Liberian citizen’ – obtaining the National Identification card for only US$5.00.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
Constitutionally, people of negro-descent wanting Liberian citizenship must reside in Liberia for at least two years and meet other requirements of the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS).
According to a Commissioner of the Liberia Immigration Service, Moses Yebleh, there is a need for Government to revisit the model being used by the National Identification Registry for the issuance of citizen ID cards.
He said there should be stringent measures put in place to prevent the foreigners from illegally obtaining the National Identification Cards.
“The National Identification needs to be review and we need to put in place stringent measures because most of our neighbors are taking shortcut to get citizenship for only US$5.00 and not the constitutional two years.
“We have documents to prove, honorable Senators, that in the first week of operation of the National Registry, more than 150 people beat the system to obtain our National ID and the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) has been able to retrieve 150 IDs through court process,” he told the Senate Committee on Defense and National Security recently.
He told the Committee chaired by Senator Thomas Grupee of Nimba County that there is an increase in the Influx of Ghanaian immigrants heading to Liberia to do illegal mining.
Mr. Yebleh who was facing members of the committee for confirmation as Deputy Commission for Administration at the LIS recommended the need for the Government of Liberia to take seriously the situation by instituting security measures that will curtail the influx.
“We need to put our foot down because if we are not careful they will take over our mining sector illegally and as it stands we have repatriated several of them (92) back without going through legal process because that process is expensive and long.”
While asking committee members for their confidence to confirm him, he also informed them that out of the 172 entries Liberia has with neighboring countries, the Immigration Service has presence at only 45.
“We have eight land cruisers that patrol four counties; we are not well protected,” he lamented.
One of the committee members, Cllr. Varney Sherman, who chairs the Senate Committee on Judiciary cautioned the LIS nominee to be cautious of international protocols signed by Liberia on repatriation and migration because, according to him, people have accused the LIS of constant harassment and intimidation.