The ground of the Executive Mansion, the seat of the Liberian presidency in Monrovia was last Friday a scene of protest by over 700 persons believed to be staff of the Ministry of State.
According to information gathered by The NEWS, the incidence transpired during a meeting where the Deputy Minister of State for Administration Cornelia Kruah-Togba informed the staffers that there were no resources to keep them working for the ministry as supplementary employees.
This, according to eyewitnesses, made the workers angry and went amok by protesting the decision of the ministry.
Eyewitnesses said this resulted in Madam Kruah-Togba reportedly running for her life as the aggrieved workers attempted to get at her.
The workers were seen chanting negative slogans against the government, with some referring to the decision as a witch-hunt.
They accused the government of getting rid of them because they were members of the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
But addressing the Executive Mansion’s regular press briefing minutes following the incident, Presidential Press Secretary Kula Fofana said the government does not have the resources to maintain the over 700 persons on the supplementary payroll.
She narrated that the past administration kept these workers on the supplementary payroll outside the Civil Service Agency system.
Madam Fofana told Executive Mansion reporters that since this year, there has been no allotment in the budget for those on the supplementary payroll; as such, the government cannot continue to keep them.
She said it would be a bad labor practice for the government to allow people to work and not pay them.
However, she said the government has sourced resources to pay them for the three months they have worked for but cannot continue any further.
She disclosed that there are personnel and financial audits currently ongoing at the Ministry of State, after which, conversations will be held regarding those on the supplementary payroll.
The presidential press secretary revealed that all those on the supplementary payroll did not go through the CSA vetting process but were just placed there.
She disclosed that it will cost the government US$2 million annually to keep the over 700 workers on the supplementary payroll, something the government cannot afford.
“… a full assessment will be done as to what is going to happen…but the plan here, there is a work done; they will be paid for three months that they worked for,” Madam Fofana among other things said.
