The Director General of the Civil service Agency of Liberia (CSA) disclosed that there are over 300 audit reports have not been investigated to understand the merits and demerit whereby holding perpetrators unaccountable.
At a special press conference organized by the Ministry of Information of Information Culture and Tourism (MICAT), the CSA Director General, Josiah Joekai, unveiled that over 300 audit reports spanning over two decades are lying on the desk of the Government of Liberia pending investigation.
He proposed that President Joseph Boakai engages the Houses’ standing committee on public account to hold hearing on the reports for the expeditious prosecution of would-be perpetrators.
According to him, if this is not done, the government’s current reform efforts will be a drop in the bucket and corruption will continue to impede Liberia’s national recovery and development process.
The CSA boss give a facial expression of disappointment in past government for not prioritizing the investigations of audit reports which will promote transparency and accountability whereby leading good governance.
“I will like to propose to your good office to kindly engage with the houses committee standing on public account to hold hearing on these reports for the expeditious prosecution of perpetrators,” he engaged President Boakai who was the official launcher of the Employee Status Regulation Project (ESRP) at the unveiling of the first batch of government’s consultants held at MICAT yesterday.
The CSA Director General said the CSA plays a crucial role in combating corruption within the country, focusing on reforming the public sector to enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency.
He added that the CSA is at the forefront of efforts to reform the civil service, aiming to professionalize government institutions and reduce political interference in staffing and promotions.
Joekai said this includes establishing merit-based recruitment processes and performance evaluations to ensure that qualified individuals are appointed based on competence rather than connections.
Meanwhile the CSA boss disclosed that the CSA has discovered 687 potential ghost employees on government payrolls across three spending entities and that a CSA payroll and employees audit showed an illegal salary payments to ghosts and double dippers and duplicate accounts
He clarified that 40 employees were dismissed at the Ministry of Mines and Energy for not showing up to work for 14 to 20 days for each of the three months covered based on the time and attendance.
“We suspended 81 employees without pay for one month for not showing up to work for 8 to 12 consecutive months,” he stated at the conference.
He also said the CSA has issued warning letters to 10 employees for not show to work for five to seven consecutive days and that at the Liberia Institute for Public Administration, 28 employees were dismissed for not showing up for 14 to 20 days.
He reminded President Boakai that the National Policy on consultancy which was launched in April 30. 2024 led the CSA to appointing a consultancy steering committee.
This finding according to the CSA is projected to save the national government about $2.6 million annually.
Liberia as a nation, faced significant challenges related to corruption. Mismanagement of public resources, lack of accountability, and entrenched patronage networks were widespread issues that hindered national development and undermined public trust in government institutions.
