CESTOS, River Cess – The Civil Service Agency has completed a weeklong personnel audit of government employees in River Cess.
The exercise, meant to ensure that government employees in the county are authentically employed civil servants, took place in three locations between July 10-15.
Government workers in Timbo and parts of Yarnee completed the exercises in Cestos, as those in Central River Cess and Upper Yarnee or ITI underwent the audit in Yarpah Town. At the same time, those in Upper River Cess traveled to Boegeezay Town in Monweh for the exercise. Health and Education Ministries employees were among the first to participate.
Initially, there were rumors that the exercise was meant to purge the government’s payroll of civil servants who did not support President Joseph Boakai. However, the CSA’s regional coordinator for River Cess, Grand Bassa, and Margibi dispelled that perception.
In an interview, Jonathan Reeves told The Bush Chicken that the process was launched on April 1 by CSA Director General Josiah Jokai. He clarified that the personnel audit was not a witch-hunt but an attempt to ensure that those on the government’s payroll were legitimate employees.
“Don’t see this as a witch-hunt – once you exist and you are working, show up, and you will be captured,” he said.
He also addressed the concerns of what becomes of civil servants who live in faraway locations and cannot meet the team at their destination locations during the exercise. He said government employees affected by this situation can participate in the audit at other locations.
“Even if we leave and go to Buchanan and you were not captured here in River Cess, you can follow us with your documents, and we will attend to you,” he said.
“What we will not accept is when we are done and gone back to Monrovia, for an [human resources director] or supervisor to follow us with a long list of people to say they were not present when the team was here.”
Payroll fraud regularly contributes to the abuse of public funds in Liberia. Ghost names are frequently detected on the government payroll, where employees do not exist, but unscrupulous individuals collect salaries on their behalf.
Highlighting the severity of the issue, River Cess’ County Education Officer Peter Knowlden alarmed that most of the 300 personnel on the government’s payroll as teachers in the county cannot be seen: “One cannot find even 150 in the classroom.”
River Cess’ County Superintendent Byron Zahnwea also recommended a personnel audit of the county’s civil service personnel listing during his induction in May.
Featured photo by Eric Opa Doue
