- Documentary evidence, travel records, and insider accounts suggest that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai may have been misled by members of his own inner circle into formally backing a $44 million biometric identification contract with Austrian firm OSD International, despite the arrangement having been rejected by Liberia's procurement regulator.
The controversy arises from a concerning sequence of dates: a June 10, 2025 request from the National Identification Registry (NIR) to use restricted bidding; a July 5 presidential memo instructing a newly formed steering committee to both "finalize the selection of a contractor" and "uphold the contract signed with OSD"; and a July 7 Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) letter denying the restricted bidding request and ordering an international competitive process.
The PPCC's rejection, citing violations of the Public Procurement and Concessions Act (PPCA), came two days after Boakai's memo appeared to confirm OSD's selection and instructed compliance with what the president described as an already signed contract. The timing raises the key accountability question: who briefed the president, and on what basis, before the PPCC had made its ruling?
The Contract and the Law
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The deal with OSD International, an Austrian technology and high-security company specializing in combining analog and digital systems, was framed as the vehicle to implement Executive Order No. 147, which mandates biometric ID cards for all Liberian citizens and residents.
Under the arrangement, the NIR and the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) would partner with OSD to establish a "first-class national identification registry," with the company reportedly pre-financing the project "at no cost to government." But the PPCC determined that the proposal, as structured, qualified as a public-private partnership (PPP) or concession, triggering the need for a formal concession plan under Section 79 of the PPCA and a competitive international tender under Sections 96 and 97.
Instead, NIR applied for a "No Objection" to use restricted bidding, bypassing open competition. On July 7, the PPCC formally declined that request, directing NIR to submit a concession plan and open the project to international competitive bidding.
The President's Memo -- and Its Contradictions
Two days before that rejection, President Boakai issued memo JNB/MOS/RL/2907/2025 to National Security Advisor Samuel Koffi Woods, appointing him chair of a 10-member steering committee drawn from multiple agencies, including the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, the LTA, NIR, Central Bank, and National Elections Commission.
The memo sets an April 13, 2026, rollout deadline for the ID system, but contains a contradiction at its core. One clause directs the committee to "finalize the selection of a contractor." Another insists that "previous procurement actions" had already led to the "selection and verification" of OSD and the "subsequent signing of a contract", and orders that this "previous procurement process be upheld" to avoid "legal implications."
If OSD had truly been selected and contracted before July 5, the sequence would mean a vendor was locked in before Liberia's procurement regulator had issued its ruling, a practice the PPCA does not permit.
The PPCC Confirms -- and Stands Firm
When contacted, PPCC Director of Communication and Public Affairs Nathan Bengu confirmed the commission issued the July 7 rejection letter to NIR. "To the best of my knowledge and research done, there is no other communication from the PPCC to NIR reversing our decision about rejecting the single-source bid in favor of OSD," Bengu said.
That means there was no legal basis for proceeding with OSD outside of a competitive process.
Austria Trip Adds Diplomatic Layer
A separate trail of diplomatic engagement with OSD and Austrian officials unfolded months earlier. From March 23-24, 2024, a Liberian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sarah Beysolow Nyanti, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon, Transport Minister Sirleaf Tyler, Deputy Transport Minister Archibald S. Abban, and Assistant Foreign Minister Sarah Kabbah Jones visited Austria.
In Vienna, the team toured OSD's headquarters, met with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, and discussed trade and investment opportunities. According to a report reviewed by The Liberian Investigator, the Austrian minister raised concerns about Liberia's business environment. Dillon reportedly assured him the Legislature had taken steps to improve it.
The delegation also met Austria's Ministry of Interior and political organizations, advancing discussions on using Austrian technology for national ID cards and driver's licenses.
Woods Pushes Back Hard
In an interview with The Liberian Investigator, Samuel Koffi Woods emphatically denied any role in misleading the president or in advising him to commit to the OSD arrangement.
"I was appointed as chair of the steering committee to implement this thing," Woods said. "My job is to review everything that happened prior to my appointment. I was never involved in anything that happened before I was appointed. I have not spoken to anyone alleged to be involved in this matter before my appointment."
He added: "At no time have I advised the president on any issue regarding the national ID card. I have not even gone through all the documents. My role is to review what we have inherited and then make recommendations."
Woods repeatedly challenged anyone to produce evidence to the contrary: "I challenge anybody in this country or anywhere to show any document where I advised anybody, including the president, on any matter involving the national ID card. There is none. If you have documents you think implicate me, bring them, and we'll discuss them."
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Woods: "Don't Do That Thing to Me"
The National Security Advisor bristled at suggestions he was among those "engineering" the OSD arrangement. "Don't do that thing. Try and correct that thing. I beg you," Woods told The Liberian Investigator. "It will be premature, reckless, and irresponsible for me to advise the president without proper inquiry and scrutiny. Whoever did it, I will find the person."
Asked about the PPCC's July 7 rejection, Woods said he intends to meet the commission and review all documentation: "Can you give me a chance to review this process, to meet the PPCC, sit down with them, get all the documentation from them too? That's my job."
The Timeline -- A Red Flag in Dates
From the documents obtained by The Liberian Investigator:
- June 10, 2025 - NIR requests PPCC "No Objection" for restricted bidding, estimating project cost at $9.85 million and claiming no cost to government. Encloses "NIR Certificate for Concession" and Executive Order 147.
- July 5, 2025 - President issues memo appointing steering committee, directing it both to finalize contractor selection and uphold "previous procurement process" with OSD.
- July 7, 2025 - PPCC rejects NIR's request, orders International Competitive Bidding and submission of a formal concession plan.
Procurement lawyers say the sequence suggests a contract was treated as complete before regulatory review concluded, a breach of the PPCA's competitive and transparent procurement requirements.
