CSA Saves Gov’t Over US$800K Annually From Payroll Verification Exercise

By Decontee M. Wesseh

MONROVIA, June 18 (LINA) -The Director General of the Civil Service Agency (CSA) Josiah F. Joekai has disclosed that the recent payroll verification process has unearthed the names of 210 ghost employees from 26 government spending entities, saving the Government of Liberia approximately US$899,986 annually.

According to the statistics obtained from the CSA, the 210 employees cost the Government of Liberia US$ 74,998.89 monthly and US$ 899,986 annually.

Speaking at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular press briefing Tuesday in Monrovia, CSA Director General asserted that the payroll verification exercise is intended to minimize wasteful spending and curtail the abuse of government resources which according to him is in strict compliance with the CSA’s statutory regulations.

Director Joekai indicated that the payroll verification process is aimed at effectively strengthening and managing the payroll system to foster transparency and efficiency in the governance system of the country.

He emphasized that the process has been designed in a way that it leaves no stone unturned.

Director General Joekai assured the public of regular updates on the payroll verification exercise, citing “we will provide updates every other week on the status of the ongoing employee physical verification and headcount exercise under the Employment Status Regularization Project.

 However, he lamented that the accumulation of ghost names, incomplete personnel action notices, and outdated information have significantly compromised the integrity of the government’s payroll system.

Meanwhile, the CSA statistics shows that the Ministry of States for Presidential Affairs accounts for five of the 210 ghost names discovered because of the CSA payroll verification exercise.

Additionally, seven of the total number of ghosts were discovered from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while 20 came from the Liberia Broadcasting System.

Other entities include the National Water Sanitation and Hygiene Commission (2) the Agriculture and Industrial Training (2) and the Monrovia City Corporation (69).

Furthermore, the payroll verification exercise exhumed 16 names from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, 37 from the Ministry of Education, and 18 from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

An additional 14 ghost names were also shoveled from the Liberia Institute for Public Administration, and 12 from the National Center for Coordination and Response Mechanism.