Private investigator licensing in Sierra Leone

No. Sierra Leone has no specific private investigator licence. Sierra Leone has no law that specifically licenses private investigators. Section 19 of the National Security and Central Intelligence Act 2002 says no one may operate a private security company without a licence from the Office of National Security (ONS). Applicants must be registered companies, and the ONS decides within 60 days, weighing the company's resources, its arms and ammunition, and the fitness of its directors. The Act does not define 'private security company' or say whether investigation counts, so whether an investigation firm needs an ONS licence is unverified. ONS guidance quotes a newer offence provision (a 'Section 31(8)', with a fine of at least NLe 50,000 or at least five years in prison for operating without a licence) without naming the Act it comes from.

Private security company licence (not specific to investigators): application processing Le200,000; Category B (wholly Sierra Leonean-owned) new licence Le14,000,000, renewal Le12,000,000; Category A (foreign-owned) new licence Le60,000,000, renewal Le40,000,000 (ONS guidance, amounts in old leones as published)