AS I SEE IT: by Prof. Tom Kaydor, Jr.; PhD.
The Liberian Government Must Fund the
Liberian Immigration Service (LIS) Training
The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), formerly the
Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization (BIN) was founded in 1855. LIS is charged
with the primary responsibility to implement and enforce the Alien and
Nationality Law of Liberia. The bureau or agency has 2,081 immigration officers.
They are officers deployed 48 official border crossings points out of a total
of 178 national entry points around the Republic of Liberia. This means that
about 130 entry points are left unattended in Liberia.
Besides the Alien and Nationality Law, LIS is also
governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, the ECOWAS Protocols
on Free Movements of persons, goods and services within the sub-region,
international conventions, and laws, among other instruments. The Bureau has
the statutory mandate to safeguard and protect the borders and boundaries (air,
land, and sea) of Liberia against the illegal entry of aliens into the country.
The Bureau also screens and examines travel documents; admits aliens at sea, air,
and land borders (ports of entry); grants all aliens resident status and engages
in border management and control (https://lis.gov.lr/about, 2024).
As its Vision, LIS envisages to cultivate
professionalism, effectiveness, and international outlook in achieving regional
and international recognition (Ibid.). Its mission is to contribute to security
and socio-economic development of Liberia by facilitating international travel
and regulating entry, exit, residency, and citizenship; and to improve border
structure, data collection, analysis, and dissemination; using technology, LIS
controls immigration intelligence gathering and law enforcement to the benefit
of the people of the Republic of Liberia. LIS also institutionalizes
international best practices and sets up clear rules in a coherent manner that is
applicable and promotes gender balance as required.’ LIS operates its own
Training Academy in Lofa county, Liberia (Ibid.).
After the Joseph N. Boakai led government took office in January 2024,
the Civil Service Agency (CSA) announced the retirement of 318 LIS Officers in
accordance with the employment policy of the Republic. Based on this, LIS
announced a new recruitment to replace the officers that will retire. About 9,043
applicants applied to join LIS to replace the would-be retirees. According to
LIS boss, “8,109 applicants sat the aptitude test, 6,309 applicants passed and made
it to the physical examination, the second layer of the recruitment process. About
2,800 candidates successfully enrolled into the medical test that was the final
stage of the recruitment process.
About 1,900 applicants successfully passed the medical exams but “only 500
of this batch of applicants have been selected for the training”. The training
will begin on “14th October 2024 but the Government of Liberia has not provided
budgetary allocation to LIS for this training” (Zargo, 2024). The agency was
requested by the National Government to shift its original 2024 budget to
accommodate the cost that had no allocation as the training was unforeseen. Why
should the Government not allot money to fund this initiative by finding monies
from other sources in the national budget for such expedient and necessary national
training? How can the Government leave almost 130 entry points of Liberia
unprotected? What is more important than the security of Liberia’s borders? The
goal of any state is to protect its National Interest (this means the provision
of security for all citizens and aliens and the provision for the wellbeing of such
people). How could the Government leave LIS on its own to use her 2024 budget
lines for such training that was unbudgeted for other things rather than
finding the money from other sources to fund the training?
As I SEE IT, the Government
of Liberia must take full responsibility for the LIS training process. It must entirely
fund this process. In fact, all the successful candidates from the vetting
process must be trained and employed to secure all our entry points. Training
only 500 further limits the capacity of LIS. Therefore, the government needs to
prioritize this training as a national interest project. Alternatively, LIS
Administration should find innovative ways as the agency responsible for such
herculean task to train all the 1,900 successful applicants and employ them at
the end of the training to be deployed and appropriately secure all of
Liberia’s 178 border points.
About the Author: Prof.
Tom Kaydor, Jr. holds a PhD from the
Department of Government and European Studies, the New University, Republic of
Slovenia where he researched International Development and Diplomacy (with
Security Aspects). He completed his PhD dissertation and defended it in 2023.
His dissertation topic was ‘Reconceptualizing Africa’s Regional Integration for
Peace and Sustainable Development.’ He earned his second master’s degree as a
Master of Public Policy (MPP) specialized in Development Policy or Development
Economics with Distinction from the Crawford School of Economics and Government
(now the Crawford School of Public Policy), Australian National University, Canberra,
Australia on 17 December 2014. He obtained his first master’s degree as Master
of Arts (MA) in International Relations (Highest Distinction) and Bachelor of
Arts (BA) Magna Cum Laude in Political Science from the University of Liberia
where he currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the IBB Graduate School
of International Studies. He also holds a Diploma in Leading Economic Growth
from the Kennedy Graduate School, Harvard University, USA; and he holds other diplomas
and certificates in professional areas. Prof. Kaydor is equally an Adjunct
Professor of Development Studies at the AME University Graduate School. Dr.
Kaydor is an evidence-based researcher and a published author. One can reach
him via (kaydorth@ul.edu.lr or +231777027180/+231555266613).
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