Presidential Press Secretary, Kula V. Fofana has disclosed that payment for 700 workers, who were on supplementary payroll at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, has begun.
Fofana told a press briefing on Monday, April 22, 2024 at the Executive Mansion that the dismissed workers are receiving payment for the months they were owed.
Fofana explained that those months include January, February and March. She said as of March 31, 2024, the supplementary payroll was cancelled. The Presidential Press Secretary narrated that they are not only receiving their three months payment, but also bonus (payment for half of April) which conclude the payroll.
“The payment is ongoing. The payment started last week and it is ongoing at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville.
However, Madam Fofana has described the payment process as “coordinated payment effort” between the Ministry of State, Executive Mansion Internal Audit Secretariat team and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
She indicated that the teams from the various Ministries are present at SKD to ensure that those who have worked and on the Supplementary payroll receive their pay.
“There is no plan to immediately recall those who have been downsized. They are no longer under the employment of the Ministry of State; that contract was cancelled. They have been paid for the work they have done previously,” Fofana maintained. Recently, Madam 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 cannot pay them.
