By Crispina Cummings
Officials of the labour ministry and social security have told the committee on labour in parliament that the country’s national immigration department has been collecting work fees for permit on their behalf without accounting for such.
The head of Permit Bureau, Emmanuel Lansana said companies like African Minerals had and continued to pay residential and work permit to the immigration since 2012, amounting to billions of leones.
Lansana argued that the office should only collect residential permit and visa fees, which was in their purview, and not work permit which he said should be handled by the permit bureau in the labour ministry.
“But it is happening the other way round. Foreign nationals are being given residential permits even before they secure work permits, which according to the laws of the country should be applied for six months before their coming into the country", he said, alleging that all of that was being ignored by the immigration department which issued residential permits for Le 3 million instead of the documented fee of US$1,000.
In his response head of foreign nationals at immigration, Jonathan Moriba, told parliament that their primary duties were to monitor the movement of all foreign workers from one place to another. He clarified that they only received money for residential permit and not for work permit from foreign workers at the Africa Minerals.
When asked if they advised companies to contact the labour ministry for their work permits, he said they had only done that verbally. He also explained that all foreign workers must have secured their residential permits before they could be allowed to stay in the country.
He, however, admitted to claims that they had and continued to collect Le 3 million annually for each worker.
Chairman of the committee, Francis Konuwa, MP, requested that the immigration department provide all documents on residential permits and names of all foreign workers who had been issued with permits since 2012, adding that they would summon all heads of department and line ministries to come forward and "set the records straight".
Opposition politician, Umar Paran Tarawallie, MP, said that in other countries before any foreign worker would start work they would have secured a work permit. He observed that the fee for residential permit was US$1,000 but that the immigration was only collecting Le 3million, and losing out on Le1.5 million.
The parliamentarian said that was a big loss to the country and that the committee was worried and wanted to know where the remainder of the money was going to.
Bashiru Silikie, MP, also of the opposition SLPP party said the immigration department had cheated on the labour ministry and the country. He blamed immigration officials for “indiscriminately issuing residential permits before they ask the individuals for work permit”.
(C) Politico 11/06/14
