CSA Boss Debunks Claims Of Witch-hunt In Government Institutions

By Decontee M. Wesseh

The Director General of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Josiah F. Joekai has refuted allegations in the public that the institution’s verification and headcount exercise is intended to witch-hunt targeted employees of the government.

“CSA is not going around firing or dismissing people and removing them from the government’s payroll. This information is very untrue, because if it was not true, we can imagine the number of protests that would be staged had legitimate workers been removed from the payroll,” Joakai noted.

Speaking at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular press briefing on October 1, 2024, the CSA boss asserted that their work at the CSA is guided by established frameworks, stating that it is the standing orders for the Civil Service, the Human Resource Policy Manual as well as Human Resource manuals across spending entities of government.

He emphasized that the product of their work will continue to speak for itself and future generations, citing that history will be kind to them for their tremendous efforts being made to strengthen the entire government payroll process across the country.

Director Joakai explained that the payroll sanitization effort has affected individuals who have abandoned their assignments for periods beyond the statutorily allowed time, but still drawing paychecks from the system.

He also mentioned those who have traveled for prolonged unexplained reasons while others are in the country but do not show up to work.

The CSA Executive further added that the process will affect recipients of study leave who have stayed beyond the agreed-upon duration of their leave agreement without any explanation about pursuing additional or further studies, but still drawing paychecks from the system, among others.

In closing, Joekai reassured Liberian citizens of their resolve to uphold integrity and fairness in their employee management system.