Foreign Minister, Sarah Beysolow Nyanti, has revealed that a total of 230 passports, including 115 diplomatic, 39 official, and 76 service passports, have been retrieved by the government.
The passports were reportedly in the possession of individuals who were not authorized to hold them, all happening during the administration of former President George Weah from 2018 to 2023.
Minister Nyanti stated that the government is taking steps to ensure that all unauthorized passport holders are identified and the passports are returned to the appropriate authorities.
Addressing the Ministry of Information press briefing yesterday, Minister Nyanti narrated, “As we discussed earlier, we were strengthening our processes to manage passports and ensure the integrity of our passports.”
She said, “A team was set up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage with those who held six-year privileged passports. This team has been doing an exceptional job, ensuring that everyone entitled to those passports had a replacement promptly.”
“I am proud to announce that the team has done an outstanding job in achieving a 61 percent result, regarding the handover of privileged passwords, ensuring that those who handed them back in received their passports by April 5, 2024.
The team successfully received 115 diplomatic, 39 official, and 76 service passports, and ensured that the rightful owners received them in a timely fashion. It is important that we maintain the integrity of our passport system and prevent misuse of diplomatic privileges,” she noted.
Minister Nyanti also reiterated that the process is non-political, but rather a vital step in securing Liberia’s passport system, ensuring that only those entitled to the passwords have access to them.
This, she maintained, “Because with that, we can prevent nefarious individuals from carrying out crimes under Liberian identity. This applies to all passports, not just privileged ones, and it’s something we should all take pride in as Liberians.”
According to her, recent incidents have shown that Liberians cannot afford to be complacent about their passport system, and as such, “We must remain vigilant to ensure that our passports do not fall into the wrong hands.”
The country’s Foreign Minister further emphasized, “Let us work together to make sure that our passports are always in the hands of those who have the right to hold them moving forward.”
She also stressed, “This exercise is about more than just protecting our passports; it’s about ensuring that our identification tools are secure and that only Liberians have access to them.”
“We need to work with the Ministry of Health and others to strengthen the source documents process, so that people can’t obtain fake birth certificates and use them to get ordinary passports.
Our ordinary passport is the only document that indicates a person’s citizenship, so we need to be vigilant about who has access to it, and so we are calling on all Liberians to join hands and protect our identity,” Madam Nyanti admonished.
She added, “We should be proud to be Liberians, and we need to make sure that only Liberians have our Liberian passports. We’re also asking for your cooperation as we work to improve and streamline services for Liberians.”
