J. Nathaniel Daygbor
25 June 2009
The Director General of the Civil Service Agency Dr. William Allen has disclosed that the proposed budgeted salary of US$80, 00 for civil servants is a drop into the bucket, and that such amount does not correspond with their daily expenditures.
Dr. Allen says the amount in contemporary Liberia will absolutely not serve the intended purpose adequately upgrading the livelihood of civil servants, adding "that is much okay as compared to few years ago when civil servants were making US$15, 00 a month, which was not regular."
He made the statement yesterday when he addressed a press conference in observance of the World Public Service Day at the Monrovia City Hall.
Contradictorily, according to him, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf- led government has taken giant step in terms of stepping up civil servants salary, recalling "The government has increased civil servants pay from US$15 in 2006 to US$80 in the proposed budget."
He went on saying that salaries and allowances of the civil servants are paid on time, some through direct deposit, while pension benefits have increased significantly, thus making it attractive for people to retire with dignity.
Describing the improvement of the livelihood of civil servants as new in the Liberian setting, Dr. Allen observed: "I think this government is immensely making efforts in that direction, but we hope that things will improve gradually as the budget grows."
He pointed out "due to the increment of the wages of government's civil servants, there are high marks of productivity levels in the civil service sector including ministries and agencies of government noting that ministries and agencies are implementing programs to reward attendance and performance of duty."
According to him, the issue of transparency, accountability and performance remain the hallmarks of this government's vision of the public service.
In 1994, the conference of African Ministers of Public Service in Tangiers, Morocco, established June 23 as the African Public Service Day. This is in recognition of the contributions of the public service in the development process, the vision expressed by the conference of the African Ministers of public service, through the founding of Africa public service day, served as "the inspiration for the world".
Also in 2003, the United Nations General Assembly by its resolution 57/277 proceeded to designate June 23, as Public Service Day.
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