The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has condemned the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Immigration Department for unlawfully extending Sierra Leone’s passport production contract with Netpage without Cabinet approval or parliamentary ratification.
In a March 2025 report, PAC Chairman and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh described the move as a “gross violation” of the 1991 Constitution, faulting the two institutions for bypassing mandatory procedures. The committee stressed that the new agreement should have been tabled before Cabinet and Parliament for approval.
The original contract, ratified in 2013, expired in 2023. Instead of seeking parliamentary ratification, officials extended the deal for five years, contravening Section 118 of the Constitution. A warning letter from Hon. Conteh in February 2025 had already urged compliance, but the advice was ignored.
Governance watchdog Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) said the extension reflects a wider pattern of “elite capture” in public procurement, where business interests pressure bureaucrats to break rules. IGR estimates that between 65,000 and 70,000 passports are produced annually, generating $7–9 million in sales, yet the government has received no royalties over the past decade.
The PAC has warned that such practices undermine fiscal transparency and expose public revenues to loss. Citizens are now demanding that future passport contracts be openly advertised to credible local and international bidders, arguing that competitive procurement would strengthen security standards and ensure fairer revenue for the state.