Published: August 12, 2025
MONROVIA – Fresh documentary evidence and accounts from sources close to the Executive Mansion suggest President Joseph Nyumah Boakai may have been misled by members of his inner circle into approving a controversial $44 million biometric identification contract—despite the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) rejecting the proposed arrangement.
The deal, involving Austrian firm OSD International, was positioned to produce national biometric ID cards under Executive Order No. 147, which mandates all Liberian citizens and residents obtain a national ID. The Central Bank of Liberia and the National Identification Registry (NIR) jointly began issuing the IDs, but the process was abruptly halted, officially over “administrative concerns.”
Multiple sources told The Liberian Investigator that top aides to the president, including Mamaka Bility, Molley Kamara, and Samuel Koffi Woods, allegedly concealed PPCC’s July 7, 2025, rejection of a restricted bidding request from NIR. The commission had denied NIR’s June 10 application to award the contract directly to OSD, instructing instead that the project undergo a competitive bidding process as required under Sections 96 and 97 of the PPCC Act of 2010.
In a twist raising further questions, President Boakai’s July 5 memo—two days before PPCC’s formal rejection—authorized Woods to chair a ten-member committee to “finalize the selection of a contractor” and “uphold the contract signed with OSD” to avoid “legal implications.” The committee included the ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, NIR, the Central Bank, the National Elections Commission, the president’s senior economic adviser, and the President’s Delivery Unit.
“Recognizing the legal implications, and the urgency of a timely resolution, it is hereby mandated that the previous procurement process be upheld,” Boakai wrote, citing the existing contract between NIR, LTA, and OSD.
The PPCC, in its rejection letter, criticized NIR for failing to use the proper concession plan template for a public-private partnership arrangement and ordered the agency to comply fully with procurement law, emphasizing the need for transparency, accountability, fairness, and public confidence in the process.
According to sources, NIR did not comply with the PPCC’s directive, as pressure from influential figures around the president intensified to push the OSD deal forward.
The controversy is already drawing comparisons to the government’s disputed “yellow machines” earthmoving equipment deal, which faced criticism over alleged procedural breaches and inflated costs.
Watch for The Liberian Investigator’s full investigation in our Wednesday, August 13, 2025, edition.
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