Monrovia — The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Security, Defense, Intelligence and Veteran Affairs, Senator Momo Cyrus has disclosed that the US$40M contract signed between the former Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led-government of President George Manneh Weah and CONTEC Global for the digitization of resident permits poses multiple security risks to the country due to the incapacitation of the company hired to do the work adequately.
Lawmaker Cyrus is representing the people of Lofa County in the 55th National Legislature.
CONTEC Global was awarded a contract by the government, through the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) to digitize the Liberia Alien Resident Permit. Countries in the West African region are already operating digitized-based systems for immigration formalities.
The company currently operates in Dubai, Nigeria and other parts of the United Kingdom.
Sometimes ago, the Plenary of the Liberian Senate mandated an Ad-Hoc committee to launch an investigation into the contract.
Speaking when he provided a briefing on the investigation during the regular session on Thursday, Senator Cyrus claimed that the company does not have the capacity to implement the contract.
As a result of this, he pointed out that Liberia continues to lose millions of dollars, because thousands of aliens or foreign nationals residing in the country cannot get their resident permits.
According to him, the company was mandated to carry out its operations in 100 days following the signing of the document, but it failed to do so until November 2023.
Senator Cyrus claimed that the ineptitude of CONTEC Global to execute its terms and conditions enshrined in the contract prompted the government, through the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) to request a cancellation of the agreement in March this year.
He furthered that the company is "issuing very poor-quality resident permits" to aliens.
He noted that instead of the production of these permits being stationed at the LIS, the company is doing so at its 9th Street Sinkor offices in Monrovia.
"This contract is over US$40M United States dollars, it has not been to the Liberian Senate for ratification. We need to, in the interest of Liberia, look at and turn this contract over to another company that has the ability to do it so that the Liberian people can benefit from it."
He maintained that the implementation of the contract by CONTEC Global, poses serious risks to the country's security.
Senator Cyrus questioned the security features on the permit being processed and maintained by the company and government, adding that, "there's a lot of security risks assigned to this contract."
He pointed out that no agency of the Liberian government, including LIS, has access to managing the datas being collected by the company.
Senator Cyrus described the management of data as a "very expensive commodity", and further pointed out that CONTEC Global has not been certificated to meet international standards.
He said it is quite alarming for the sharing of revenue generated from the contract between the company and the government without the involvement of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) at a 40-60 percentage.
Under the contract, CONTEC Global is mandated to produce about 350,000 resident permits within five years.
But Senator Cyrus added that the contract should not be upheld because Liberia's current alien data shows immigration to Liberia is most often around between 60,000 to 70,000 annually.
He stated that with this known statistic it is now clear that CONTEC Global cannot produce the 350,000 resident permits within a five-year period.
He said the company will take up to 30 years to produce these permits, even though the contract creates room for an extension if the 350,000 permits are not produced and issued to aliens.
Senator Cyrus termed the entire contract as "complete wickedness and bad."
"This contract said to us that they would have given us vehicles and motorbikes for immigration purpose-only to find out that sometimes in February this year, they gave the LIS four vehicles instead of the 10 vehicles stipulated in the contract. We think this contract is from the devil's gut and it violates all of our rules and regulations in totality."
Senator Cyrus stressed that the fees being charged by the company are high. However, he failed to state the charges.
He said most foreign residents are invading the process as a result of the situation.
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He, however, reminded his colleagues of their commitment made to go against any instrument or agreement that would be detrimental to the nation and its people as part of their efforts to rescue Liberia.
"For security reasons and since we have agreed to rescue this country from bad contracts, I think this is one of the contracts that is very bad for our people and in my wisdom as a representative of the people of Lofa County and a security expert, I think this contract should be cancelled."
The Plenary of the Liberian Senate, however, took a decision to table the matter pending the outcome of actions being taken by the executive to address the issues raised by the committee. Trade Center (Hospitality). USAID's Youth Advance has helped Liberia make significant strides in youth workforce development and employment by providing foundational skills, entrepreneurship training, and connections to job opportunities. To date over 8,000 youth have benefited from the program, 2,000 of whom have secured employment. The activity has forged partnerships with over 100 private sector companies, facilitating work experiences through apprenticeships and internships that often lead to job placements.
