By Grace Q. Bryant
The Civil Service Agency (CSA) has announced significant strides in its Employee Status Regularization Project (ESRP), a key initiative launched by President Joseph Boakai.
The project is designed to streamline government payrolls, regularize the employment status of civil servants, and eradicate inefficiencies such as ghost employees and duplicate salary disbursements.
CSA’s Director-General Josiah Joekai provided an update on the ESRP during the Ministry of Information Culture & Tourism regular press conference briefing on August 13, 2024.
He revealed that verification and headcount exercises had been conducted across various government agencies from July 10 to August 20, 2024.
These efforts, which spanned five regions and included 10 government entities, aimed to ensure that only legitimate employees are on the payroll.
Key entities involved in the first phase included the National Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Commission (WASH Commission) and the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC).
According to Director Joekai, the ESRP focused on identifying legitimate government employees and regularizing the status of those already on the payroll who lacked complete documentation, in line with the revised Human Resources Policy Manual.
“The project successfully identified and removed ghost employees, duplicate entries, and other illegitimate individuals from the payroll, significantly enhancing payroll integrity,” he stressed.
He explained that WASH Commission, out of 82 employees, 77% (64 employees) were verified. One employee (1%) failed to submit the required documents, while 18 employees (22%) did not attend the verification process.
While Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) Of the 955 employees, 66% (630 employees) were verified. However, 209 employees (22%) failed to submit the required documents, 13 employees (1%) were on sick leave without proper documentation, and 101 employees (11%) did not attend the verification.
The CSA also recommended that the MCC dismiss nine employees who were found to be engaging in harmful social media activities targeting government officials, including President Boakai.
“These activities have negatively affected the MCC’s reputation and are deemed incompatible with their roles as government employees. The CSA has provided the MCC with documentation to support these recommendations and urged adherence to applicable laws in addressing absenteeism and job abandonment,” he noted.
Other agencies’ verification results including Ministry of Labor out of 224 employees, 67% (150 employees) were verified and the 10 employees (5%) failed to submit required documents, and 14 employees (6%) did not attend the verification.
He further that Ministry of Transport, of 398 employees, 69% (275 employees) were verified, while 71 employees (18%) failed to submit documents, and 18 employees (4%) did not attend the verification.
“Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) of 142 employees, 91% (107 employees) were verified. Three employees (3%) failed to submit documents, and seven employees (6%) did not attend the verification,”
For Governance Commission with 156 employees, 90% (141 employees) were verified. Five employees (3%) failed to submit documents, and ten employees (7%) did not attend the verification.
Meanwhile, the CSA has temporarily blocked 332 employees pending further verification, an action expected to save the government approximately $161,117.97 per month and $789,280.10 for the remainder of 2024.
These savings will come from ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Labor, Liberia Broadcasting System, and others.
Director-General Joekai emphasized the importance of ongoing collaboration between government entities and the CSA to ensure the ESRP’s success.
He acknowledged the support of the MCC and other institutions in addressing critical human resource issues and reaffirmed the CSA’s commitment to strengthening the public sector’s human resource management.
The ESRP represents a vital step toward enhancing efficiency and accountability within Liberia’s public service, ensuring that the government payroll reflects only legitimate and verified employees.
The CSA promised to continue monitoring and reporting on the project’s progress as it advances.
