By Alex Yomah
The Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) Julius Legerhood Rennie, has confirmed that in keeping with a Presidential mandate, employees’ salaries at his Ministry have been upgraded especially those whose salaries were below the wage bill.
Minister Rennie made the remarks when he appeared on the OK FM Morning Rush on April 12, 2023, to discuss a wide range of issues concerning governance within the CDC-led Government in Monrovia.
The Minister of Information said its Ministry is one of government ministries that are poorly paid, which, among many things, has provoked countless protests against the CDC-led government.
It can be recalled that Minister Rennie stated that the Ministry of Information’s entire salary was estimated at roughly US$17,000 annually, something he described as a drop in the ocean for the workloads.
But speaking of his Ministry’s latest developments, Rennie disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning alongside with the Civil Servant Agency did some upgrading especially for those workers who were making below the threshold in keeping the presidential mandate aimed at ensuring that people get their just pay for what they work at MICAT.
He added, “So, things have changed. People have started benefiting as of February 2023. The reported upgrading of salaries comes as a result of an uprising against the government, in which some drivers of a Minister reported making $60 while some employees complained that the salaries harmonization scheme badly affected their salaries.”
Minister Rennie did not mention whether or not the upgrading of salaries at Ministry affected all other Ministries and Agencies affected by the harmonization exercise.
Minister Rennie, however, dismissed what he termed as ‘Monrovia information’ about President George Manneh Weah being investigated by the American CIA.
“For me , it didn’t come as a surprise because as a newsman , I know the media would go all out fishing for the news especially when there is vacuum; people speculate, and people try to use all kinds of methods. What I would say is that Liberian should realize that the president that we have is a likable and respectable young man,” Rennie averred.
Though Minister Rennie refused to disclose the purpose of the President’s visit to the United States of America, he said the President Rightly stated that his “Trip was a successful one.”
He further said that not everything that the government does is public. The fact is, the President returned home joyful and gleeful, so all is well, and all ends well.
