In Summary:
- A Facebook user named Karina claimed that former President Weah introduced the biometric National Identification Card
- We have verified this claim by reviewing the National Identification Registry’s website and other relevant sources
- We found that the NIR was established by an Act of the National Legislature in 2011, and that the process dates back to the 1980s.
On June 17, a Facebook user, Karibu Dennis, posted in The Costa Show Facebook group — which has over 289,000 members, claiming that former President George Weah introduced Liberia’s Biometric National Identification Card System.
Dennis made the claim while comparing some of the achievements of former Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah to the current President, Joseph N. Boakai.
His post generated over 70 reactions and 73 comments, sparking debate over which administration should be credited for the introduction of the NIR.
The Claim
Dennis made a post that shared a flyer bearing the claim: “President Weah’s introduction of the biometric National Identification Card system is a crucial step toward digital governance and formalizing Liberia’s informal economy.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed the National Identification Registry website, the agency responsible for issuing National ID cards.
According to the NIR’s website, the agency was established by an Act of the National Legislature in 2011 as an autonomous agency within the Executive Branch of Government, repealing PRC Decree #65, establishing the National Identification Card System with a mandate to design, implement, and manage a biometric identification system for Liberia.
The framers of this Act were motivated by ongoing issues such as double-dipping, illegal migration, impersonation, and identity theft, which undermined public services and institutional integrity. Therefore, in response to the above challenges, the registry was mandated to “design, produce, and issue biometric cards, each with a unique identifying number to be called a Social Security Number.
It states: “The National Identification Registry is an autonomous agency within the Executive Branch of the Government of Liberia. It was created by an Act of the National Legislature in 2011 because the framers were, among other things, “mindful that double dipping, illegal migration and other frauds resulting from impersonation and identity theft continue to undermine the efforts of Government to strengthen public and private institutions, provide essential services, and promote rule of law and progress.” Therefore, the response to the above challenges was to create the NIR, with a mandate to “design, produce, and issue biometric cards, each with a unique identifying number to be called a Social Security Number, to be the primary government approved identity number (for registration of birth, death, passports, immigrant documents, bank accounts, Driver’s License, social security benefits, and other identification documents) supported by adequate and appropriate security features to address the challenge of possible fraudulent duplication.”
Section 1.1 of the NIR Act provides for the establishment of the National Identification Registry, referred to interchangeably in the Act as the NIR or the Registry, as an autonomous entity within the Executive Branch of the Government of Liberia, repealing PRC Decree #65, establishing the National Identification Card System.
Section 3.1: The general functions of the registry shall be to design, establish, maintain, and administer/implement the National Biometric Identification System of the Republic of Liberia.”
We also found and reviewed the Act of 2011, published by the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative titled: An Act to Repeal PRC Decree #65 Establishing the National Identification Card System and to Establish in Lieu Thereof the National Identification Registry of 2011. This was signed into law on August 1, 2011, and published on August 8, 2011, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative is a resource for all those working to ensure respect for the right to a nationality and an end to statelessness on the African continent.
UNHCR, former Minister of Internal Affairs, Varney Sirleaf, the World Bank, FrontPage Africa, including President Boakai’s newly issued Executive Order #147 also referenced that the 2011 Act repealed the PRC Decree #65 that established the National Identification Card System.
To further authenticate the claim, we also contacted the Head of Communications of NIR, Daniel Sargbe, via WhatsApp, who provided historical context of the origin of Liberia’s National Identification scheme.
According to Sargbe, the concept of the National ID system dates back to 1983, during the administration of former President Samuel Doe.
Sargbe wrote: “The National Identification Registry (NIR) came into existence as a result of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC) government, headed by the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe, in a presidential Degree #65 issued by him; thus establishing the National Identification Card System. The PRC degree #65 promulgated in 1983 represents the first National effort at implementing a National Identification Card System.
“The National Identification Card System, however, was short-lived after issuing the first batch of Cards to citizens in 1987. The government of Liberia, under the leadership of H.E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, realizing the importance of unique identity, through the national legislature, repealed the PRC degree #65, which established the National Identification Card System; and established in lieu of the National Identification Registry (NIR).”
Conclusion
Based on the historical records and statements from the National Identification Registry, we conclude that Dennis’ claim that former President Weah introduced the biometric National Identification Card is incorrect. The National ID Card system was introduced in the 1980s during the PRC regime of Samuel Doe and reintroduced via a Act of Legislature in 2011 during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration.
