The Sierra Leone Police has moved Police Clearance Certificate applications entirely online through the WanGov platform a shift that eliminates the need to visit Criminal Investigations Department headquarters and marks one of the most citizen-visible steps yet in the country’s growing digital government infrastructure.
The Sierra Leone Police has issued a public notice confirming that applications for Police Clearance Certificates are now processed entirely online through the WanGov digital platform, effective 30 July 2026 ending the requirement for citizens to visit the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in person to obtain a document that is routinely required for employment, travel, and institutional processes across the country.
The notice, issued and signed by the Media and Public Relations Department of the Sierra Leone Police at Police Headquarters, Kingtom, directs members of the public to apply through the WanGov portal at www.wan.gov.sl, where they can complete and submit their applications from any location with internet access.
“The Sierra Leone Police remains committed to delivering efficient, transparent, and citizen-centred services through the adoption of modern technology,” the notice stated. “The public is therefore encouraged to utilise the WanGov platform to enjoy a faster, more secure, and more convenient Police Clearance Certificate application process.”
For most Sierra Leoneans, the Police Clearance Certificate has historically meant a trip to CID Headquarters a process that involved queuing, paperwork, and the delays that accompany any in-person government service operating at high volume. The requirement affects a wide cross-section of the public: job applicants, those seeking visa approvals, students applying to foreign institutions, and anyone whose personal or professional circumstances require a verified record of their criminal history status.
The full migration to WanGov changes that calculus entirely. A person in Bo, Makeni, Kono, or the diaspora can now initiate and submit their Police Clearance Certificate application without travelling to Freetown. The implications are particularly significant for Sierra Leoneans living abroad, for whom obtaining a clearance certificate from home previously required either a personal visit or navigating cumbersome proxy processes.
To address the digital divide a genuine concern in a country where internet penetration remains uneven the SLP has established three physical support centres staffed by trained WanGov Partnership Associates who will assist applicants who lack internet access or require help navigating the online process:
- Central Police Station, Freetown
- Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Freetown
- WanGov Service Booth, General Post Office, Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown
The inclusion of offline support points reflects an awareness that digitising a service does not automatically make it universally accessible and that the transition must be managed carefully to avoid creating a two-tier system that disadvantages those without connectivity.
The Police Clearance Certificate shift is the latest in a series of public services migrating onto WanGov Sierra Leone’s official digital citizen portal, developed by the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation and positioned at the centre of the government’s digital transformation agenda.
WanGov is described as the official digital citizen portal of Sierra Leone, providing a comprehensive and user-friendly platform that enables citizens to access public digital services and interact seamlessly with government agencies.
The platform enables citizens to apply for services, securely submit documents, track applications in real-time, and make payments eliminating the need for long queues and complex paperwork. Services already on the platform include business registration, tax filings and permits, driver’s licence applications, and EDSA new meter installations. A key feature is accessibility from anywhere in the world even Sierra Leoneans outside the country can log into their WanGov accounts to access services.
WanGov has also been deployed at the Gbalamuya Border Post on the Guinea-Sierra Leone border, allowing citizens and businesses to process Sierra Leone government services digitally, including from Conakry, Guinea, before arrival so that documents can simply be collected upon crossing. An extension to the Jendema Border Post on the Liberia-Sierra Leone border has also been announced.
Chief Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh has championed WanGov as central to public sector reform, describing it as a platform that will revolutionise the way government services are provided and improve government-citizen interactions in line with President Julius Maada Bio’s Big Five Game Changers agenda.
The Police Clearance Certificate announcement lands on the same day that Sierra Leone’s broader digitisation agenda continues to accumulate visible wins. Earlier this week, the Sierra Leone Police distributed 39 laptops to Local Unit Commanders across the country as part of the Force’s Strategic Development Plan 2025–2029 a parallel initiative to digitise police administration at the divisional level. Both developments point to an institution that is genuinely investing in technology as an operational tool, not merely a communication exercise.
Read Also: Sierra Leone Police Distributes 39 Laptops to Field Commanders in Digitisation Push
For Civil Voice Media Sierra Leone, which welcomed the notice as a reform that enhances public access to essential services, the announcement reflects the kind of practical, citizen-facing change that makes the government’s digital transformation agenda legible to ordinary people not as an abstraction about platforms and infrastructure, but as a concrete improvement to an experience they have navigated before and will navigate again.
The queue at CID Headquarters for Police Clearance Certificates was, for many, a small but persistent friction point in daily civic life. As of today, it is gone.
