The Government of Liberia via the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) late yesterday evening issued a press release suspending the issuance of National Identification Cards and pausing the enforcement of Executive Order No. 147, intended to make the broader use biometric ID cards mandatory for accessing public and financial services across the nation.
The release noted that MICAT, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) and the National Identification Registry (NIR), has issued a directive requesting all commercial banks to relax the enforcement on the usage of the National Identification Card as a pre-requisite for all banking transactions.
The issue of using National ID as the only means of accessing financial services has gotten contentious and come under severe criticism over the last few weeks, with lawmakers citing the head of the National Identification Registry (NIR) for clarification.
There has been frustrating delays and long queues across the country at various registration centers, with citizens complaining that some centers were charging extra fees for preferential treatment.