The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) has launched an investigation into Nollah Grace Piloya, a Ugandan national accused of illegally obtaining a Sierra Leone National Identity Card.

Piloya reportedly closely associated with Minister of Social Welfare, Madam Melrose Karminty is alleged to have been employed at the Ministry of Social Welfare in violation of the Sierra Leone Employment Act 2023. The Act allows foreign nationals to be hired only when no qualified Sierra Leonean is available for a role and mandates a training and succession plan to ensure skills transfer to local personnel.

Concerns escalated when Piloya, a Ugandan citizen, was reportedly fraudulently registered in the NCRA system and issued a National ID without following due legal procedures.

Piloya is also alleged to have leveraged her ties with the minister to secure a position as Home Mother for the Kush Rehabilitation Centre, where she reportedly intimidated Madam Isata Kallon, a Sierra Leonean who runs a certified Kush rehabilitation Community-Based Organization (CBO) in Bo District.

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Kallon said she confronted the minister in Bo and later in Parliament over the appointment of a foreigner to a critical role that she and other qualified Sierra Leoneans could have filled. “This leadership at the Ministry of Social Welfare is hindering the fight against drug abuse,” Kallon said. “Our CBO has rehabilitated more Kush victims than the ministry itself. At one point, Madam Piloya told me that if I wanted urgent support from the minister, I should work through her.”

In response to the ID card issue, the NCRA Director General instructed the Director of Operations to investigate. The ICT Department confirmed Piloya had been registered in their system. An investigative team has been formed to identify and hold accountable the staff involved in her registration.

Meanwhile, in a press release dated 24 November 2025, the Ministry of Social Welfare denied employing Piloya. The ministry clarified that it does not conduct its own recruitment, noting that all public sector employment is handled exclusively by the Human Resources Management Office (HRMO) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) in accordance with national procedures.