-216 to Forfeit February Salaries
Addressing journalists in Monrovia today, the Director General of the of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), the Honorable Dr. Josiah F. Joekai announced the blocking of the February salaries of 216 government officials from spending entities whose payrolls are controlled and managed by the Agency. Dr. Joekai says the action is to enforce the mandate of President Joseph N. Boakai suspending non-complying officials with the asset declaration regime of the Government of Liberia in more than 100 spending entities.
The CSA’s Director General made the announcement at the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism (MICAT) Tuesday, February 18, 2025 when he address trending actions taken by the Agency, including the status of the government’s top-up initiative for the health, education security and Agriculture sectors, and the status of retired employees on the Pension Payroll.
Dr. Joekai recalled that President Boakai took a ‘milestone decision’ to suspend more than 400 government officials who have not declared their assets and stated that this action attracted the attention of the media both at home and abroad.
While “Liberians are commending the President for the decision … they are also asking critical questions” as well, and the CSA boss said he was addressing the MICAT platform to answer some of the questions because ‘the role the CSA plays in ensuring the fulfilment of the President’s decision is critical’.
“The CSA controls and manages the central payroll of the more than 100 government spending entities, and so the CSA has a role to play to enforce the President’s mandate which was consistent with the Asset Declaration Regime of the country.”
Dr. Joekai noted that in the chemistry of the enforcement of the President’s mandate, the CSA has ensured the blocking of the salaries of suspended officials for the month of February because they were suspended in the month of February, adding that in as much as the CSA is committed to transparency, accountability and good governance, it must ensure that all government officials are accountable for their actions.
He named the affected Ministry Agencies and Commissions affected to include the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs where the salaries of two officials are blocked for February; the Ministry of Internal Affairs where the salaries of 198 officials are blocked for this month and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where the salaries of three officials are also blocked.
“The rest are put in one category. They include the Governance Commission (GC), the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC), the Ministry of Justice, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Ministry of National Defense where delinquent officials of Asset Declaration are also affected,” Director-General Joekai indicated.
The government, Dr. Joekai said, is saving 104,073.25 United States dollars as the result of the blocking of these officials for the month of February, clarifying that the heads of Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE) and the CSA are in conversation about actions to be taken against the officials affected by the President’s mandate at all state-owned enterprises.
We have agreed that after the after the action is effected and officials’ salaries are blocked, the BSE will furnished the CSA with information in terms of the total amount that will be saved to be put in escrow accounts which the CSA has already requested the Comptroller and Accountant General of the Republic of Liberia to establish, adding that the President will decide on how the money will be used.
He then advised affected officials to declare their assets, go for their clearances from the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and present to the CSA their clearances to be restored on the Government’s Payroll.
Regarding implementation of the government’s salary top-up, Dr. Joekai disclosed a plan by the government to top-up (increase) the salaries of employees in critical sectors including Health, Education, Security and Agriculture as was announced sometime last year by the Minister of Finance and Develop Planning (MFDP).
Accordingly, the CSA and the MFDP have agreed that CSA will sit with sector institutions and get proposals on how the top-up will affect their employees.
Already, the CSA authorities did sit with authorities of the Ministry of Health and reported that additional to what salary allotment for the MFDP has allotted $3.8 million to be provided annually to the Health Ministry to top-up the salaries of 5,600 employees.
“That will be applied in a way the salaries of those below the minimum wage will be brought to $150 USD while various categories will benefit based on ranges,” the CSA boss disclosed, stating that the CSA has done the same for the Ministry of Education and the Liberian National Police as well.
For the Ministry of Education, the MFDP provided $3.1 million to benefit 9, 505 employees mainly teachers; for the Liberia National Police (LNP), 900, 000 to cover about 4,656 personnel; and the Liberia Immigration Service, $757,714 to benefit 2, 122 officers.
Noting that those are considerations in line with the high expectations generated from the public, Dr. Joekai also named the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) for which $365,808 is allotted and the National Fire Service (NFS) for which $271, 000 is to be given under the top-up exercise of government.
Besides, the CSA is working with the JFK Medical Center, the Jackson K. Doe Memorial Hospital, and the Phebe Hospital for additional pending annual increment consideration of $125, 379, $60,000 and $93,000 respectively.
The CSA boss recalled that President Boakai, while launching the Employees’ Status Regularization program (ESRP) informed the country that there will be improvement in the wages of “legitimate civil servants” this year, 2025, adding that since the President made the statement the CSA had gone about putting civil servants into their right places based on their backgrounds.
This, according to him, changed the work attitude of the government work forces for the better , adding that once the top up exercise completes the Agency will make full disclosure.
Concerning the status of the government retirement process, Dr. Joekai narrated that close to 500 people were enrolled into the pension payroll who have begun benefiting as far back as January and will continue to benefit from their labor over the years.
Towards this end, DG Joekai said the CSA has started to take action. Inclusive in actions taken is that the Agency asked eligible people to stay home and receive their salaries (not their pension benefits) as a handshake for their services to the country.
Going forward, the Director General also asserted that CSA will remove names of over 400 that are already enrolled on the Pension Payroll from the National Payroll into the pension payroll; and that CSA will also remove names of eligible employees whose C-1 forms were processed and submitted to the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) for placement on the Pension Payroll.
He said those who participated in the nationwide Counselling Workshop and Data Collection Exercise will be paid retroactively if they did not receive their pay.
Besides, he pointed out that CSA will remove from the national payroll the names of legitimate employees who deliberately refused to attend the Nationwide Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop and Data Collection Exercise.
Although the process is time bound, the CSA boss noted that those who are in the latter category still stand a chance to be enrolled on the Pension Payroll provided that they come to the CSA and complete their C-1 forms.
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