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| Sirleaf said those fired were "insensitivity" to the Ebola crisis |
According to President Sirleaf, those dismissed officials showed "insensitivity to our national tragedy and disregard for authority."
On August 11, 2014, the Liberian President gave cabinet ministers out of the country one week to return home or they would be considered as abandoning their jobs, except those with life-threatening medical conditions. With immediate effect, President Sirleaf suspended all government travels; prohibiting her lieutenants from leaving the country for a period of one month.
In line with her directive, the President yesterday announced the dismissal of Dr. Othello Gongar, Commissioner, Governance Commission; Ms. Kona Beysolow, Commissioner, Public Procurement and Concessions Commission; Cllr. Wheatonia Dixon-Barnes, Deputy Minister for Administration and Public Safety, Ministry of Justice; and Ms. Victoria Sherman-Lang, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Justice.
Others include Mr. Hilary Sirleaf-Siakor, Assistant Minister for Prisons, Ministry of Justice; Ms. Ardia Kaikai, Assistant Minister for Afro-Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Lauretta Reffell, Assistant Minister for Administration, Ministry of Public Works; Mr. James H.R. Cooper, Assistant Minister for Administration, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications; Ms. Meapeh Gono-Glay, Assistant Minister for Administration, Ministry of Labor; and Mr. Ebeizar Z. Gibson, Assistant Minister for Trade Union, Ministry of Labor.
For members of various Boards not subjected to direct Presidential travel approval, they are to forfeit salaries, compensation, benefits and Board fees until they return home.
In this category are Ms. Jackie Khoury, Member of the Board of Directors, National Oil Company; Ms. Massa Roberts, Member, Monrovia City Council; Mr. James P. Cooper, Member of the Board, Liberia Telecommunications Corporation; Ms. Miata Beysolow, Chairman of the Board, National Social Security and Welfare Corporation; and Mr. James Thompson, Member of the Board, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation.
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| President Sirleaf |
At the same time,
junior officials who are also not subject to Presidential approval will forfeit
all compensation and benefits until they return home to join in the fight
against the Ebola virus disease. In this category are Ms. Christine Norman, Mayor, Bensonville City, Montserrado County; Mrs. Ade Jones Captan, Commissioner, Congo Town, Montserrado
County, among many others.
In
another development, in accordance with an updated report received from the
Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission on September 5, also posted on its website,
President Sirleaf has suspended three eligible officials who have not declared
or re-declared their income, assets, and liabilities. They are to forfeit their salaries and have
been directed to file their income, assets, and liabilities within one week.
Those
affected are Dr.
Antoinette Weeks, Minister of Public Works; Mr.
Claude Langley, Deputy Minister for Technical Services, Ministry of Public
Works; and Mr.
Francis Okai, District Commissioner, Margibi County.
Part
X-10.1 of the National Code of Conduct Act states: “Every Public Official and
Employee of Government involved in making decisions affecting contracting,
tendering or procurement, and issuance of licenses of various types shall sign
performance or financial bonds and shall in addition declare his or her income,
assets and liabilities prior to taking office and thereafter at the end of
every three years; on promotion or progression from one level to another; upon
transfer to another public office; and upon retirement or resignation.”
A
total of 321 government officials who are eligible under the Code of Conduct
Act have declared or re-declared their income, assets and liabilities.
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