The Government of Liberia through the Civil Service Agency has revealed that it will shortly lunch a Biometric ID Card system as part of its reform strategy.
Disclosing this to our reporter, the Director of the Biometric Center, Mr. Afraid Drosaye said the ID card will help government in its fight against corruption and clean its payroll of ghost names.
He said the new system is also intended to help government in its time management system; meaning it will identify the entry and exist time of all government employees and protect the system against "flaw".
He said the new system, "first of it kind in west Africa" will also enable the government to increase salaries of its employees in order to reduce poverty in line with its Poverty Reduction strategy (PRS).
'Under Pillar-ll of the PRS: Revitalizing the Economy, an important goal is the rapid creation of productive employment that will reduce poverty, ensure peace and stability, and enhance the overall well-being of the Liberian population'.
According to Mr. Drosaye, during the process finger prints as well as face recognition of all employees of various government ministries and agencies will be captured in order to prevent employees from multiple salaries.
According to section 66.3b and 66.11 of the Act creating the Civil Service Agency mandates it to keep an accurate and up-to-date record of every individual employed in the civil service system.
He said based upon this law the Government of Liberia has provided a US$500,000 to secure a hardware and software from a Sierra Leonean company Digital-U, for the smooth operation of its Biometric Center which according to him is located on Carey Street, next to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication.
Mr. Dorsaye further said that the project is being done in collaboration with the Ministries of Education, Finance, and Health and Social Welfare. The project is expected to cover all government ministries and agencies; starting with the Ministry of State, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Gender and Development and the Planning Ministry. Others are the General Services Agency (GSA), Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA) Liberia Institution of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, (LISGIS) CNDRA, and ANTB. Contact; 06270297 email: perryroland@rocketmail.com.
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I applaud the government's effort to stamp out corruption through reduction of potential of ghost names, most importantly the prospect of raising minimal wage, and therefore contributing to poverty reduction. however, i have fundamental concerns with the introduction of biometrics for the following reasons: privacy and data protection - what is the gurantee of data protection of individuals who will be made to surrender their sensitive data, fingerprints and personal informal? even in the most developed countries, UK and the US, this issue is being fiercely debated. at the core of this is indivicual right to privacy. Secondly collection of this kind of personal data should be followed by reform in data protection laws, that provide guarantees on how these data can and not be used; as well as accountability for any potential misused We may feel that the surge of crime such as those committed through identity theft are not yet common to Liberia, but with the expanding use of internet we will be faced with similar challenge. my last question is - a company from Sierra Leone? how were they selected and what is their capacity - if we are to go with the programme, data protection and other safeguards in place, what is the guarantee taht the selected company has the experience and capacity to deliver?
Why give US $500,000 to Sierra Leone for some instrument? Is there anywhere then Sierra Leone that we can obtain such instrument for less? Is this instument new or we are just picking another old trash? Is Liberia capable of buying a new machine from manufacturer? This deal is fishy... Who are the buyers that started this deal? Are they Sierra Leonians or has connection with Sierra Leonians? Our money is leaving again across border like they have been doing before in old regime.
Can you read and if so, do you understand what you reading? This is from the article "He said based upon this law the Government of Liberia has provided a US$500,000 to secure a hardware and software from a Sierra Leonean company Digital-U" not the Sierra Leonean govn't and whats wrong with buyinig equipment from another African country? Its people like you with the mind set that if its not from the white man's world than it no good. WRONG,WRONG. This is what you called cross- border trade, if your neighbor has what you want, then buy and sell her what she want.
You are getting this wrong...Was that machine made in Sierra Leone? I believed it came from somewhere. Can Liberia buy the same machine from the original source instead of DIGITAL U serving as middleman? Are we still having little minds when it comes to international marketting? You yourself can check for this same machine over the internet and purchase it instead of some middle guys sitting in the village of Sierra Leone or Ghana doing that for us. Remember the "old Fire Truck" deal involving a Ghanian and a prominant Liberian Leader back in the old days... Why cann't learn after 150 plus years? Go on give the money to "DIGITAL U" and laterhide in the corner to cry wolf about how you are going to repair it in few days after purchase.
I am so happy to here of this as I have always been looking to see when this system of ours was ever going to get some upgrade.
I honestly believed if this measure is well executed, there would more check and balance.
This system could be use to generate revenue for the government through the transport ministry by the issuance of driver's licences as is done here in the United States. It could further be use for National Identification purposes.