PAC Questions Contract Extension Over Validity Concerns
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) strongly criticized the Immigration Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in March 2025 for gross negligence and constitutional violations related to the renewal and extension of the passport production contract with Netpage. The five-year extension was granted without the required Cabinet approval or parliamentary ratification, despite established procedures for such agreements.
The PAC report, signed by Chairman and Deputy Speaker Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, explicitly “faulted the Immigration Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for failing to table the new agreement to Cabinet for consideration and finally to Parliament for approval.”
This report was preceded by a warning letter from Hon. Tawa on February 12, 2025, urging adherence to constitutional provisions.
The initial contract, ratified in 2013, expired in 2023. By extending the contract for five additional years without presenting the new agreement to Cabinet and Parliament, the Ministry and the Immigration Department directly violated Section 118 of the 1991 Constitution.
A subsequent PAC report released in February 2026 warned that the failure to ratify agreements not only “exposes public revenues to loss” but also “undermines fiscal transparency and accountability.”
The Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) views these actions as symptomatic of a broader trend of “elite capture,” where business elites manipulate bureaucratic institutions. The IGR reports that these elites influence the appointment and transfer of civil servants to gain undue advantages in public procurement, pressuring government officials to violate procurement rules for private benefit and consequently weakening administrative integrity.
According to IGR data, annual passport production is estimated at 65,000 to 70,000, generating $7 million to $9 million in sales. While passport sales are believed to have generated at least $70 million over the past decade, the government has reportedly received no royalty payments.
Furthermore, from 2013 to 2023, there were frequent reports of Sierra Leonean passports being found with dangerous criminals in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs once noted that many so-called “illegal aliens” processed for deportation to Sierra Leone by the Trump administration were not legitimate citizens, despite holding the country’s passports.
In response to these pervasive issues, citizens are demanding that the government publicly advertise contracts for the production and sale of Sierra Leonean passports. They argue that opening the process to credible local and international bidders would ensure higher security standards for the nation’s sovereign travel document and guarantee fair revenue arrangements for the state.
