Monrovia – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on Thursday launched the Employee Status Regularization Project (ESRP) that will be implemented by the Civil Service Agency of Liberia. President Boakai said the launch of the ESRP is a testament of his administration’s commitment to enhancing employment and payroll transparency and accountability.
President Boakai sees the project as a significant step forward for his administration and a leap towards a more efficient, transparent, and accountable civil service.
At the launch of the Employees Status Regularization on Thursday, July 4, at the Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs, and Tourism, President Boakai noted that by “cleansing the bloated payroll system” inherited, his government aims to create a more productive workforce with improved wages for hardworking civil servants.
This initiative, according to President Boakai, is not just a part of his government’s agenda, but a significant stride towards its realization.
“The ESRP is a testament to our dedication to these principles,” President Boakai said.
He told the public that such a “comprehensive employee headcount and physical verification exercise” will not only identify and remove ghost names, double dippers, and unqualified individuals from the payroll system but also significantly improve the wages of legitimate civil servants and provide opportunities for qualified professionals to deliver efficient and effective services.
He characterized the project as a major step towards a more productive and efficient civil service.
The initiative, according to President Boakai, aligns perfectly with the ARREST Agenda, which seeks to promote transparency and accountability across all sectors.
He said: “I am pleased to report that the ESRP has already made significant strides, covering 26 out of the 103 government Spending Entities.”
“Progressive reports have revealed huge numbers of ghost names, double dippers, unqualified and inefficient employees, duplicate names, and National Identification Numbers (NIN) on the payroll.”
He was perturbed, that discrepancies and inefficiencies are not only numbers on a balance sheet but also represent a significant loss to the government, amounting to millions monthly.
However, he said the ESRP, designed and implemented by the Civil Service Agency (CSA), was a perfect robust response to said “financial drain.”
President Boakai inferred that addressing these issues will put his government in the rightful position to not only strengthen and manage the payroll system but also significantly reduce these financial losses, ensuring it operates with transparency and efficiency, and improving compensations for qualified employees.
“By identifying all legitimate government employees and improving payroll data collection, we aim to minimize waste and abuse of government resources and ensure the effective utilization of public resources,” President Boakai proceeded.
He said: “The ESRP is a response to the current challenges we face: the accumulation of ghost names, incomplete Personnel Action Notices (PANs), and outdated information that have compromised the integrity of our government payroll system. This comprehensive clean-up is essential to ensure the accuracy and transparency of our payroll system.”
He enlightened the public that the scope of the ESRP encompasses all government Spending Entities, focusing on verifying and updating employee records across all 103 Entities.
At the same time, Boakai added that its methodology includes thoroughly auditing the existing payrolls, cross-referencing current employee records, and implementing a robust data collection and management system to prevent future discrepancies.
Therefore, he said this process envisions three key deliverables from this project to include, an updated and accurate payroll system free of ghost names and incomplete Personnel Action Notice, a streamlined process for ongoing payroll data management and verification of a depoliticized, professional workforce maintaining payroll integrity, and an improved and capable workforce.
These goals, according to President Boakai, will be achieved over three months, July to September 2024, with key milestones, including the initial audit and assessment, data verification and updating, system implementation, and training, culminating in a final review and report.
“I want to personally thank the Civil Service Agency for undertaking this major national reform initiative, which will bring integrity to the national payroll system, save the government millions, and strengthen and improve the workforce,” he maintained.
President Boakai also Unveiled of Consultants. He said: “Fellow Liberians, it is vital to inform you that by July 2023, this time last year, the previous administration had already hired about 1,000 so-called consultants, primarily casual laborers, who did not significantly contribute to bridging the human resource and institutional capacity gaps and advancing our governance system overall.
In sharp contrast, today, we proudly announce the recruitment of 97 highly qualified professionals and experts through a rigorous vetting process consistent with the National Consultancy Policy Guidelines I launched on April 30, 2024. Many of the consultants present here today include legal, human resource, management experts, and specialized doctors.”
He lauded the leadership of the Civil Service Agency for instituting these consultancy reform measures, ensuring effective utilization of consultancy resources, and delivering value for money.
Further speaking, Boakai said the launch of the Employee Status Regularization Project (ESRP) represents a pivotal step towards a more transparent, accountable, and efficient government committed to serving the people of Liberia with integrity and dedication.
At the same time, the President expressed conviction that the CSA process will not only remove ghosts and double dippers from the National payroll but will also improve the salaries of Civil servants.
President Boakai then noted that the launch marks a significant milestone in his leadership’s sojourn, terming it as a day of immense pride and progress, attributing it to his government’s ARREST Agenda, which he said, is rooted in transparency and accountability.
Earlier, CSA Director General Josiah Joekai announced that as part of the employee verification exercise, the CSA has identified and removed 687 potential ghost names on government’s payrolls across four spending entities. With this discovery, he noted that a total of US$ 2,600,000 will be saved annually by the national government.
