LIS To Retire Over 400 Officers

-Deputy LIS Boss Discloses

By Jackson C. Clay, Jr.

The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) has disclosed that there are over four hundred (400) officers expected to be retired from the service shortly.

Commissioner Moses Yehbleh

Making the disclosure over the weekend to a team of reporters at his office in Monrovia, Deputy Commissioner for Administration, Commissioner Moses Yehbleh said retiring these officers would reduce the payroll of the LIS and create room for new officers.

“Most of the men who we are speaking about have been earmarked for retirement and the government is unable to effect that process because of the lack of funding, so we got that group still on payroll,” commissioner Yehbleh told journalists.

Commissioner Yehbleh stated that getting rid of those officers would create space within the service to recruit new men into the service to boost the strength of the LIS.

The Deputy LIS boss for administration noted that the strength of the service is considerable enough to provide immigration services for the country but fell short of attaching a particular number to strength of the LIS, says for security reasons.

“With reference to our strength, we may not want to go public with it, but at the moment we have got a considerable amount of men that we have in the field though it might not be adequate as we will want but we still listen to central government in reference to additional recruitment,” Col. Yehbleh voiced.

Col. Yehbleh reiterated that there are hundred and seventy-six entry (176) border points into the country but only forty-five (45) of those points are being properly guarded by officers of the LIS due the lack of logistics.

He however, indicated that the Border Patrol Unity (BPU) of the LIS usually carried out regular patrol at those various entry points, adding that there is still to create more legal entry point for proper guarding.

He furthered that in order to this, there are lot of things require to be put into place, including officers lodging and the building of gates or border plaza at these points.

The long time veteran immigration officer asserted that this is an old age problem faced by previous governments and now been inherited by this new government led by the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) under leadership of world football legend, George Weah.

he not that it would cost government a little over a million dollars to erect border plaza at each of the over hundred, seventy-six entry point of the country, noting that this is posing serious challenge to the smooth operations of the LIS.

meanwhile, Col. Yehbleh has clarified rumors that there is confusion among the leadership of the LIS, saying that there exists not confusion but a very cordial working relationship contrary to reports circulating in the public.