Barely a month since the Civil Service Agency (CSA) announced that it was planning to block 6,811 workers on the government payroll, the entity says it has blocked at least 210 persons from twelve different entities.
Speaking Thursday, June 18, 2024 at the Ministry of Information regular press briefing, the Director General of CSA, Josiah F Joekai disclosed that the entities affected by the block list include Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs with 10 persons, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7, Agricultural & Industrial Training Institute, 2, Monrovia City Corporation, 69, Liberia Broadcasting System, 20, WASH Commission, 5, Ministry of Gender, 16, Ministry of Education, 37, Liberia Institute for Public Administration, 14, Ministry of Mines and Energy, 18, and the National Center for Coordination and Response Mechanism, 12.
The CSA boss said due to the blockage, the Government of Liberia has saved the annual sum of US$899, 986.68.
He indicated that the CSA has finalized the analysis of three government spending entities’ attendance records from January to March 2024 which showed that several employees are in direct violation of Section 4.34 and 16 of the Revised Civil Service Standing Orders of 2012.
The Orders state that, “unauthorized absence from work for a period of 14 consecutive days may be considered by an agency head as resignation.”
Furthermore, in keeping with this provision, the Civil Service Agency has recommended dismissal, suspension, and warning actions against employees from the three entities.
Joekai revealed that the CSA has also identified and subsequently blocked 54 individuals with duplicate National Identification Numbers on the payroll pending verification in one month.
He said the CSA is very concerned about this grave situation and will immediately engage with GEODATA, the Developer of Alternative Temporary Automated Payroll Systems (ATAPS), and the relevant authorities of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to explain these unfortunate circumstances.
“We have called the Ministry of Justice to fully investigate the Human Resources Directors and Financial Comptrollers of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Liberia Institute of Public Administration, and the National Center for Coordination Response Mechanism,” he said.
Joekai informed journalists that findings from its ongoing physical verification and headcounts show that the Human Resources Directors and Financial Comptrollers of the three Spending Entities illegally processed the salaries of the concerned employees who did not work for 20 to 61 days from January to March 2024, but illegitimately received total salary payments for the three months in question.
He said it was also important to inform the public that the Government of Liberia fully supports this critical national initiative of sanitizing the national payroll.
“Necessary modalities are being worked out by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and the Civil Service Agency for the Government to provide the needed funding support whilst the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) has assured the CSA of its readiness to grant the necessary approvals to facilitate the procurement process,” the CSA Director General said.
Speaking on the launch of the National Policy Guidelines, Joekai indicated that the Civil Service Agency has effectively communicated the procedures for hiring independent consultants and consultancy firms.
“A National Consultancy Steering Committee was established comprising of five members, two from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and three from the Civil Service Agency,” he stated.
