By Brima Kamara
Sierra Leone’s passport production agreement with Netpage (SL) Limited is facing renewed legal and financial scrutiny after lawmakers said a revised contract may not have received the constitutional approvals required to make it binding.
Parliament ratified a 2013 agreement between the government and Netpage, acting as a third-party partner to HID CID Limited, for the production of Sierra Leonean passports. Under Sections 105 and 106 of the 1991 Constitution, Parliament must approve such agreements for them to have the force of law.
However, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Immigration Department renewed and amended the agreement for a further five years without presenting it to Cabinet or returning it to Parliament for ratification.
In a letter dated Feb. 12, 2025, PAC Chairman Ibrahim Tawa Conteh confirmed that the revised agreement had not undergone constitutional approval. He warned that enforcing certain financial provisions under an unapproved contract could amount to a breach of the Constitution.
The Audit Service Sierra Leone earlier flagged at least $1.1 million in outstanding royalty payments for 2022 and 2023, linked to a Contract Change Note introducing graduated royalty rates. According to the PAC, royalty payments were not included in the original parliamentary-approved contract.
The Ministry of Finance reportedly directed in August 2021 that royalties be paid at 6% for part of 2021, 8% in 2022 and 10% in 2023, with future rates subject to negotiation.
Legal analysts say that once a parliamentary-ratified agreement expires, any renewal or amendment must follow the same constitutional approval process. Failure to do so could render the renewed contract legally defective.
The PAC has recommended that the Ministry review the revised agreement, strengthen revenue safeguards and formally submit it to Parliament.
Officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Netpage were not immediately available for comment.
The issue has raised broader questions about contract oversight, revenue protection and adherence to constitutional procedures in the management of one of the country’s most sensitive sovereign documents.
