The Office of the Ombudsman has ruled that the National Port Authority (NPA) unlawfully dismissed three employees accused of gross negligence in a case involving the alleged loss of more than US$200,000, citing multiple violations of due process and the agency’s own internal regulations.
According to the Ombudsman’s report released on July 25, 2025, the NPA failed to comply with Article 5, Section 2(A)(I) of its 2022 Employees’ Handbook, which requires that any dismissal for gross negligence must follow three key steps: issuance of a suspension notice, completion of an internal investigation within one month, and, if warranted, forwarding the matter to the appropriate court for prosecution.
However, the investigation revealed that the NPA removed the employees from the payroll on June 10, 2024, two days before issuing their suspension notices and concluded its internal inquiry after three months, exceeding the prescribed one-month limit.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the employees were denied access to the audit report on which the allegations were based, as well as the right to legal representation, which they requested.
“The concept of due process is a cardinal principle under Article 20(a) of the Liberian Constitution and Section 4.10 of the Code of Conduct,” the Ombudsman’s report stated. “The NPA’s actions demonstrated a disregard for this principle and violated the rights of the complainants.”
The Ombudsman’s investigation also referenced audit findings that “customers/claimants fraudulently changed bank deposit slips and made false reports to the cashiers,” supporting the employees’ claims that they had no access to bank deposit information and could not have known of the vendors’ fraudulent actions.
The Ombudsman observed that the NPA and its Managing Director, Sekou Dukuly breached the Code of Conduct and its own Employees’ Handbook.
The Office of Ombudsman pointed out that the dismissals violated the employees’ constitutional right to due process.
As part of its ruling, the Ombudsman instructed that the dismissed employees, Sema G. Tulay, Georgina Dixon and Annett S. Nebo be reinstated with full retroactive benefits within ten business days.
The Ombudsman warned that failure to comply will result in a recommendation to suspend NPA Managing Director Sekou Dukuly.
Additionally, the Ombudsman directed the NPA to urgently review its internal systems to improve transparency and accountability and mandated that both the Managing Director and the in-house legal counsel enroll at personal expense at the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA) for training in administrative practices.
