MONROVIA, Montserrado – Today, Liberia joins member states of the African Union to celebrate the African Public Service Day.
According to a statement delivered by the deputy director general for administration of the Civil Service Agency, Othello Weh, the day is meant to recognize and appreciate those who have worked above and beyond the call of duty since 2008.
For the celebration, CSA was accepting nominations for an award to be given to the Public Servant of the Year. He added that, among other things, the nominating institution must be able to give a story of the candidate performing a specific duty such as saving lives, combating corruption, increasing revenue quota and service beyond duty.
“This year, the CSA sent out letters to all the ministries and agencies of government for the nomination process, we received eight nominations from five institutions including the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, the Liberia Institute of Public Administration. General Service Agency, CSA, and the Ministry of Justice but out of this only two were qualified, one from the CSA and Justice Ministry,” he said.
The celebrations will take place today June 23, 2017, at the Paynesville City Hall with Satta Sheriff appearing as the guest speaker. Sheriff is a youth activist and is the former speaker of the Children’s Parliament.
The decision to set aside a day dedicated to the recognition of civil servants and public servants in Africa was made at the Sixth Conference of the African Ministers of Public Service held in Johannesburg, South African in October 2008.
At the conference, ministers of public service representing their respective governments adopted a long-term strategy to address the challenges of governance, specifically within the context of public administration, on the African continent.
According to a Foreign Ministry release, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared June 23 as National Public Service Day, to be observed throughout the country as a working holiday.
The release also says the purpose of the day is to serve as a platform to showcase best practices and innovation as well as to promote the value of professionalism and integrity in service delivery.
