By Alex Yomah
The Liberian Senate is expected to begin payment for over 800 of its staffers owed for roughly one year and eight months in arrears.
Making the disclosure to the workers yesterday, the Senate Committee Chairperson on Executive, Saar Joseph, disclosed that leadership of the Senate resolved to pay eight months of the salary owed them.
Senator Joseph assured staffers that beginning Wednesday March 31, 2021, to clear the eight months, each staffer will receive four months now and the exercise will continue concomitantly but appealed that balance of one year debt payment be negotiated.
“You are aware the last fiscal year period has elapsed, so debts incurred are captured under domestic debt. We will negotiate with the Executive on how your balance money can be paid,” Sen. Joseph assured.
However, he said, there will be no excuse of illness, indicating that every staffer will be paid from his/her departments.
“We are also doing verification to know our real workers as well. So, no one will receive on behalf of their friends and the payment will take place one day only,” he warned.
He indicated that because the Senate does not have the capacity to employ its current volunteers, adding, “We are also going to give them something for helping us and to tell them to go look somewhere else for job,”
The debts accrued on the Senate were as a result of this harmonization scheme introduced by the Weah-led gover nment through the Ministry of Finance.
It can be recalled, members of the Legislature informed its staffers that the harmonization scheme milked their Liberian dollars salary component, unfortunately, it was made known from the Execut ive following intense pressure from the aggrieved staffers that their Liberian dollars salary was untouched, a situation that prompted series of protests against in demand of their salaries.