Liberia News: 6, 387 Ghosts, 146 Unverified Employees On House’s GOL Payroll Blocked

By: Moses M. Tokpah

Liberia-The Civil Service Agency (CSA) has blocked about 6,387 unverified employees on the national payroll as recommended by the General Auditing Commission (GAC).
CSA Director General Josiah F. Joekai recently said a national compliance audit of the Government of Liberia was conducted by the GAC covering the period between 2018 and 2021.
The report among other things, he said revealed that 9,287 employees representing 13% of the workforce and receiving US$3.7m monthly could not be verified during the exercise.
Mr. Joekai indicated that a 90-day post audit verification exercise was conducted as an opportunity for concerned employees to be verified, noting that only 2,900 were verified and since then, 6,387 remained unverified.
According to him, the government continues to lose a staggering US$2.5m to these potential ghosts representing about 9% of the total workforce.
“The Auditor General (AG) recommended in the audit report that these unverified individuals should be temporarily blocked, while the recommendation also maintained that the office of the Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG) would place a moratorium on salaries of all employees (6,387) not verified during the physical verification exercise and for whom legitimate excuses were not verified,” he said.
Mr. Joekai disclosed that the CSA has blocked 6,387 potential ghosts on the payroll pending a two-month verification after which they will be permanently removed from the payroll.
The CSA boss stated that as a final effort to ensure those blocked have the opportunity to provide evidence as to why they should not be blocked from the payroll, an additional 60 days have been granted for them to verify their status.
“This exercise commenced on September 2, 2024 and is expected to run through November 4, 2024 and thereafter, those unverified will be permanently removed from the national payroll,” he disclosed.
Although, he said the action is belated due to the insensitivity of previous government, it however demonstrates the CSA and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning commitment to curbing waste and abuse of public resources, sanitizing the national payroll, and bringing to book unscrupulous individuals who continue to loot the national treasury.
In a related development, the CSA has announced the blocking of 146 unverified employees of the central administration of the House of Representatives.
CSA boss Joekai said in continuation of the ongoing headcount and physical verification exercise, a team from the CSA conducted the same with employees of the central administration of the House of Representatives, stating that a total of 146 employees on the payroll could not be verified and have therefore been blocked pending further verification.
Mr. Joekai however recognized the cooperation of the leadership of the House of Representatives through its Rules, Order, and Administration during the execution of the verification exercise.