The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) has condemned what it terms as arbitrary dismissal of the National Port Authority Comptroller and other senior employees.
The CSO group described the action as illegal and a witch-hunt, and called on the NPA Management to immediately reinstate the dismissed employees.
The CSNL said the dismissal of 10 senior employees, including the Comptroller, Gabriel S. Bull, was arbitrary, and called for their immediate reinstatement.
Recently, the Managing Director of the National Port Authority, Sekou Dukuly, abruptly dismissed 10 senior employees of the NPA, including Bull, on alleged account of financial improprieties and administrative reasons.
Having conducted investigation into reasons and circumstances surrounding the dismissals, the Civil Society Network of Liberia described the action as arbitrary, illegal, and a witch-hunt.
“There is no substantially established reason why the Sekou Dukuly-led Administration of the NPA will dismiss these senior employees. The NPA Management’s allegations of financial improprieties and administrative reasons are vague, ambiguous, and lack evidence,” the group stated.
The CSO Network said, “In fact, the dismissed employees were never accorded due process, as provided for in Article 20 of the 1986 Liberian Constitution. We wonder as to how these employees could be dismissed without due process, which is a fundamental element of the Rule of Law.”
The group questioned the NPA Management’s decision to dismiss those employees, which, according to it, fails to meet the minimum standard of evidence from any specific proven reason for said action, noting, “Our review and analysis of findings from the imaginary investigation conducted by the NPA Management regarding the termination of the employees’ services, on the basis of discovering vouchers, showing sums of money disbursed to the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), is not only manufactured, but a premeditated action intended to illegally deny a Liberian of his right to employment.”
“It is highly inconceivable or unthinkable for Mr. Bull to disburse six vouchers with similar figure of US$9,500 on the same date of July 17, 2023.
The Civil Society Network of Liberia wants to make it emphatically clear that findings from its investigations into NPA Management’s allegations that Mr. Bull authorized the disbursement of six vouchers, bearing identical figure and date for the purpose of community engagements in support of the CDC’s 2023 Campaign, is a fictional story being told, to justify the deliberate and intentional attempt of dismissing Mr. Bull and other senior staff of the Corporation,” the release said.
“We strongly believe that the voucher disbursement’s allegation is a calculated ploy designed by the new NPA Management Team to remove Mr. Gabriel Bull and other affected Liberians from jobs.
This manufactured account of the disbursement of fake vouchers is also intended to besmear the high earned reputation of Mr. Gabriel Bull, who has served the National Port Authority for many years, with professionalism, integrity, and transparency.
During his 27 years of service at NPA, Mr. Bull has never been warned or suspended for any acts of financial malpractice,” it expressed.
The Civil Society Network of Liberia also commended Montserrado County District 17 Representative, Bernard D. J. Benson, for seeking the intervention of the House of Representatives into the abrupt dismissal of Gabriel Bull and other senior staff of the NPA.
However, “We call for a speedy and expeditious action from the Legislature, in ensuring that the dismissed NPA Staff are reinstated. We also commend Mr. Gabriel Bull and other dismissed NPA employees for the level of tolerance and intelligence they have exercised despite the glaring unlawful action taken against them,” he stressed.
Now that the case is before the court, they expressed conviction that the court will dispense justice, and Bull will be reinstated as comptroller of the National Port Authority.
