Liberia-a communication to House Speaker, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has announced the termination of contracts of approximately 203 contractors and consultants, claiming the decision is necessary due to escalating personnel costs and a risky financial state that prevents them from retaining the concerned workers at this time.
The termination of contracts is set to take effect at the end of August, CBL’s communication stated.
“As one of the new Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program for Liberia, the bank is required to significantly reduce is personnel cost by ending the contracts of its existing contractors and consultants under a definite agreement with the Bank,” the letter of August 26 stated.
Bank management is constrained to implement the decision before the end of the month ahead of the International Monetary Fund Board Meeting scheduled to take place in September.
It added the current was constrained the decision for the good of the country.
According the CBL, those concerned will be compensated accordingly.
While terminating the contracts of contractors, the Bank however informed the Speaker of plans to conduct a comprehensive, competitive and transparent recruitment exercise of required skills to enhance institutional efficiency and productivity at the Bank.
But, political and financial experts have voiced concerns that the decision to recruit additional staff while getting rid of others because of financial burdens is marred by inconsistency.
It is viewed as an attempt to “remove individuals believed to have been employed during the CDC administration, replacing them instead with affiliates from the Unity Party.”
The administration is accused of removing people believed to be supporters of the CDC and replace them with its supporters.
About 700 supplementary payroll employees at the Ministry of State were dismissed, along with more than 400 from the EPS, Transport, Labor, and MCC, leaving many in distress.
