WHEN PRESIDENT JOSEPH Boakai issued Govt Order No. 147 in April, mandating that every one Liberians receive a nationwide identification card by August 1, the directive was hailed as a long-overdue push towards trendy digital governance.
BUT JUST TWO months later, that dream is unraveling in actual time. What was meant to be a groundbreaking leap into the digital future has rapidly mutated right into a nationwide disaster — one outlined not by progress, however by lengthy strains, institutional chaos, and rising public anger.
ACROSS MONROVIA AND past, hundreds of Liberians rise within the early hours — usually earlier than daybreak — to hitch lengthy, snaking strains at overcrowded Nationwide Identification Registry (NIR) facilities. Some arrive at 4:00 a.m. solely to be turned away by 8:00 a.m. after the day’s quota is stuffed. The fortunate few who obtain one of many 85 day by day registration slips per heart should then endure hours within the warmth, whereas the remainder return house empty-handed, their hopes dashed.
THIS IS NOT digital empowerment. That is digital disenfranchisement. Take Rick Scott, a 54-year-old businessman who has made 4 separate makes an attempt in a single week to register. Every time, he returned house together with his $5 registration charge nonetheless in hand — and nothing to point out for it. “I go away my job within the morning and are available to seek out an ID card as a result of it’s a authorities mandate,” he mentioned. “However we’re all combating to get an ID card, and the method is simply going slowly. A few of us aren’t feeling nicely, however we’re pressured to come back right here.”
THIS STORY REPEATS itself throughout neighborhoods, counties, and communities — a shared wrestle towards an unprepared system that was by no means constructed to deal with a nationwide mandate of this scale inside this timeline.
MONROVIA ALONE HAS over a million grownup residents. But town is serviced by simply 15 registration facilities, every able to processing 85 folks a day. That’s a day by day complete of 1,275 people — which means it might take greater than three years to register Monrovia alone, not together with the remainder of Liberia’s inhabitants. The maths was flawed from the beginning. And the implications are actual.
AS IF THE logistical challenges weren’t sufficient, many banks, telecommunications corporations, and even public establishments have begun prematurely demanding the nationwide ID card earlier than the August 1 deadline. This isn’t solely impractical, it’s unjust and irresponsible. We name on all establishments, private and non-private, to right away stop these untimely enforcement practices.
THE AUGUST 1 deadline continues to be weeks away. It is not sensible, morally or operationally, to disclaim residents entry to their cash, their cell service, or public sources for failing to current an ID that they merely can not receive by way of any fault of their very own.
PASTOR HOUSTON HARRIS of Higher World Church was not too long ago denied a mortgage as a result of he lacked the nationwide ID. That cash, he defined, was important to supporting his enterprise and offering for his household. “It seems so unhealthy for me as a result of I’m purported to obtain cash, and I can’t obtain cash,” he mentioned.
THIS IS JUST one in all numerous examples of how coverage failure is bleeding into financial hardship — the place entry to monetary instruments, healthcare, communication, and social mobility are actually locked behind an inaccessible plastic card.
MAKING MATTERS WORSE is the rampant corruption that has emerged throughout the registration course of. A number of reviews counsel that bribes have turn out to be the quickest — and typically the one — path to service. Marlene Rose Clark, a resident of the 72nd group, witnessed it firsthand. “I do know that they need to bypass the system to provide them some money,” she mentioned. “They solely need us to provide them cash, more money, exterior of what’s required.”
IN A COUNTRY lengthy affected by corrupt techniques, this revelation is no surprise. However it’s particularly disgraceful when the corruption emerges in a program explicitly created to enhance transparency and restore public belief.
THE NATIONAL ID initiative is backed by a staggering $57 million — together with $27 million in authorities allocations and $30 million in World Financial institution help by way of the GREAT Challenge (Governance Reform and Accountability Transformation).
YET DESPITE THESE funds, the rollout has floor to a halt as a consequence of an unresolved debt of $5.9 million owed to Techno Model, the Nairobi-based agency that constructed the NIR infrastructure. Till that debt is paid, $2 million in extra World Financial institution funding is frozen, leaving the registry unable to open extra facilities, ship out cell groups, or scale its techniques.
ANDREW PETERS, EXECUTIVE Director of the NIR, has acknowledged that cell items and growth plans are in place — they’re simply ready for funds. However within the meantime, the general public pays the worth for the federal government’s monetary mismanagement.
AT THE CENTER of this disaster are folks like Musu Vai, a 70-year-old lady from Fiahma. She traveled throughout Monrovia within the hopes of registering so she might entry her small financial savings by way of a BRAC-run microfinance program. “They are saying I ought to go get a citizen ID card earlier than I get the cash. They nah need voting card once more,” she mentioned, fatigued and in ache. “I don’t know anybody there to assist me, and my head is popping, so I need to return house.”
THESE ARE THE voices that ought to have been heard earlier than this coverage was launched. These are the residents who want digital entry essentially the most — and but they’re those most susceptible to being left behind.
THE MOST URGENT menace, nevertheless, continues to be to come back. Below the manager order, all SIM playing cards should be linked to a nationwide ID by August 1 — or face disconnection. In a rustic the place cell phones are lifelines for banking, communication, schooling, and security, this might imply thousands and thousands of Liberians might be minimize off from the financial system, their households, and emergency companies.
THIS IS MORE than a coverage misfire. It’s a ticking time bomb that threatens the very material of nationwide life.
THERE IS STILL time for a course correction — however the window is closing quick. First, the federal government should instantly prolong the August 1 deadline.
CITIZENS CANNOT BE penalized for failures of infrastructure that have been by no means theirs to repair. Second, the Boakai administration should settle the excellent debt to Techno Model to unlock withheld donor funding and permit the Registry to broaden.
THIRD, THE GOVERNMENT ought to waive or subsidize the $5 registration charge for low-income Liberians. No citizen ought to be priced out of their proper to be acknowledged. Fourth, there should be a crackdown on corruption at registration facilities, with a clear reporting and accountability system to research and punish workers who solicit bribes.
LASTLY, public consciousness campaigns should be rolled out throughout city and rural areas, guaranteeing that residents aren’t simply mandated to register, however knowledgeable and empowered to take action.
LIBERIA’s NATIONAL ID system can nonetheless be a cornerstone of inclusive digital governance. It could deliver dignity, effectivity, and transparency to how the state interacts with its folks. However solely whether it is applied with urgency, empathy, and integrity.
RIGHT NOW, WHAT started as a digital dream is spiraling right into a public nightmare — one the place essentially the most susceptible are being left behind, companies are compounding the burden, and public belief is being squandered. The time to behave is now.
