The Online Journal & Network of ASPA’s
Section for Public Management Practice

Background

Several years of conflict in Liberia destroyed the Civil Service and ruined a merit-based system by ignoring standards and procedures and recruiting unqualified individuals based on the patronage and largesse of various armed groups that exacerbated the civil conflict. This situation created an inefficient public service, thereby adversely affecting performance and contributing to poor service delivery as well. Simply put, the Civil Service lacked the professional clout and institutional mechanisms needed to achieve the critical outcomes for social development.

However, Liberia’s first post-war administration – led by Her Excellency Madame Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia – is poised to revitalize the governance structure that was decimated by years of intermittent spasms of revolt. It has embarked upon a national renewal of the various state agencies that were significantly weakened by the conflict. First, the Civil Service, the main machinery of government responsible for managing human resources and delivering effective and efficient public service, had to be restored. It is therefore an integral component of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, a road map that would lay the basis for sustained and shared growth, reduce poverty and place the country on a path of positive socio-economic growth and development.

Smaller Government, Better Services

To achieve this end, in June of 2008 the government of Liberia adopted its Civil Reform Strategy: “Smaller Government, Better Services,” which consists of the following critical components:

   • restructuring and rightsizing
   • pay and pension reforms
   • developing leadership
   • gender equity in the Civil Service
   • improving service delivery

The Civil Service Agency’s Civil Service Reform Directorate (CSRD), inaugurated in July 2009 and placed under the Senior Executive Service (SES) Program, is responsible for driving reforms across government – as required by the Civil Service Reform Strategy (CSRS) Document. It is important to note that the CSRS is a corollary of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), which serves as the strategic plan or road map for the transformation of Liberia to becoming a capable developmental state. Since its inception, the Reform Directorate has continued to demonstrate the required capacity to achieve these desired goals by reinforcing strategic interconnectedness, coordinating and supervising five thematic areas that include:

   • mandates and functional reviews
   • capacity building
   • biometrics
   • pay and pension
   • wage administration

Significant Results to Date

The Directorate has made significant progress in improving service delivery by reforming the public administration system – which remains the single central and pivotal driving force of the Civil Service Agency (CSA). With a little over two years of rigorous work, the government has achieved major benchmarks that place its reform agenda on an irreversible path. Some of the gains made thus far include:

1. 1. Coordination with a biometric center that ensures removal of duplicates and ghost workers on the government payroll, thus helping to authenticate the number of government employee hours billed, and significantly reducing allowable cost. The biometric system has been linked to the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), which the CSA and Ministry of Finance (MOF) are expected to coordinate.

2. Harmonizing various pension laws that offer attractive, post-service benefits to retired employees and adopting a new contributory pension scheme that will reduce the burden on the Government Wage Bill.

3. Completed wage administration that encapsulates 10 grades instead of the previous 15, with various steps in each to allow for upward progression and seniority in the civil service and where the minimum wage of a civil servant stands at US$ 100.00 per month.

4. Completed Mandates and Functional Reviews (M&FRs) of the Ministries of Labor (MOL), Agriculture (MOA), Commerce (MOC) and Public Works (MPW) and the CSA in close collaboration with the Governance Commission.

5. Begun engaging a cluster of ministries – including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health and Social Welfare – in the conduct of their M&FR processes.

6. Spearheaded the formulation of a Re-directed Workers’ Program Strategy document that provides opportunities for civil servants who could be separated from the civil service labor force as a result of the restructuring and rightsizing exercise.

7. Conducted capacity-building and training workshops in different reform areas aimed at enhancing the capacity and performance of civil servants for effective and efficient service delivery.

8. Conducted specialized training of Civil Service staff in merit-based appointment standards and procedures.

9. Spearheaded the Induction of the Internal Reform Committees (IRCs) of some ministries in preparation for the M&FRs to familiarize them with the approach and methodology adopted by both the Governance Commission and the CSA.

10.  Supported the development and popularization of the Code of Conduct for public officials within the three branches of government. The importance of the Code of Conduct to the emergence of a “New Liberia” has consequential implications for civil duties and responsibilities, decency and the dignity of work. The President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has given her political support by signing this legal document under Executive Order # 38.

Other Noteworthy Achievements

In addition to these strategically important results, the governance reform group has worked effectively with Dr. Quan Dihn, an international consultant, to complete MF&R reports on the Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs, and completed an exercise on the merging of the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Ministry of Agriculture into the new structure of the institution, as well as the development of an implementation framework for the execution of M&FRs across Ministries Agencies and Commissions (MACs). At the completion of these reports, it is anticipated that the relevant steps will be taken as a measure for the full implementation of the recommendations. Moreover, the group has:

   • Worked along with Mr. Yaw Adu-Boahene, an international consultant, on reports covering the Ministries of Gender and Development, Information, Culture and Tourism, Land, Mines and Energy and the National Investment Commission. It is expected that work will continue on these efforts, and that when funding becomes available the implementation of these reports would be fully supported to begin execution.  

   • Another undertaking of the CSRD was planning and holding the first African Public Service Day in Liberia. The African Union’s 6th Conference of African Ministers for Public/Civil Service (CAMPS) held a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010 and adopted June 23rd of each year as African Public Service Day to be observed by all member states of the African Union (AU). Liberia being a member state, the Conference of African Ministers of Public/Civil Service has nationalized this thematic area of the Ministers’ program and executed it through a government proclamation commemorating the day, while at the same time popularizing it by holding an elaborate event on June 23rd, 2011. The objectives of the celebration were to reflect on the gains and challenges of public service in Africa (by each member state, in particular); generate a sense of identity and accelerate the level of awareness of the rapid reform of the Public Service across Africa, and to recognize public servants for their outstanding services. The program was held on June 23rd 2011 at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville and witnessed by several members of the cabinet – the Ambassador of the African Union accredited near this capital, dignitaries, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), civil servants from across line ministries, agencies and commission, donor partners, among others. The keynote speaker for the occasion was Dr. Tunji Olaopa, Federal Permanent Secretary of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

   • The CSRD led an effort to produce a FAQ brochure, intended to enlighten and enrich the minds of civil servants on the “Dos and Don’ts” of the Service, as well as promoting the mirror image of this critical arm, greatly associated with the human capacity of government. The project is near completion. There were, however, several validation meetings held with heads of thematic areas including Capacity Building, Pension, Performance Management, Employment Services, General Administration and Rural Outreach. These validation meetings were spearheaded by the CSRD and included major inputs from colleagues and professionals that provided more weight to the output. Reference sources such as the Standing Orders, Civil Service Act, Labor Law, etc., were all used in ensuring that answers obtained therein were not based on personal interpretation of the Act creating the Agency or conjecture, but rather critical and authoritative relevance.

Looking Forward

The CSRD still sees the need to continue this project due to its significance in informing not only civil servants but also the Liberian public on critical issues regarding the workings and intricacies of the system. It participated and played relevant roles in regional and continental bodies and represented the CSA as the line agency to these bodies. The Agency has taken on the roles of co-championing two of the thematic areas of the Conference of African Ministers’ of Public/ Civil Service Program, namely: Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, and Continental Capacity Development. In these roles, the Agency has participated in a number of conferences and called meetings for the purposes of ratifying, discussing, adopting, drafting and validating most of the CAMPS documents.

Liberia’s contributions include involvement with: a) the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration in Africa, b) the Long-Term Strategy, c) the Continental Capacity Development Implementation Framework and d) the Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development Action Plan. Liberia, or the Agency to be particular, was fully represented at the close of the 6th Conference of the Extended Bureau meeting and participated in the opening of the 7th Conference for the next two years – both in Nairobi, Kenya. The Bureau and extended Bureau Conferences are attended by Dr. C. William Allen, Director-General of the Civil Service Agency and Mr. Oblayon B. Nyemah, Head of Reform Directorate, as Service Champion. Liberia continued to gain relevance at the Ministerial meetings and play its role as Service Co-Champion. It may interest the reader to know that the Bureau is at the level of the Ministers of Public Service, the Extended Bureau is represented both by the Service Champion and the Minister and, the Service Champion of each member country is the technical point of contact for the Ministers’ Conference. The Conference was established in 1994 by Ministers of Public Service in Africa for the purpose of building capable developmental states across the continent;

Special Project Initiatives

The Civil Service Reform Directorate (CSRD) has been fully involved in the Government of Liberia Special Projects, intended to fast-track the efficiency of service delivery in the country. To date, the three major undertakings spearheaded by the CSRD under special project initiatives includes, Mandate and Functional Reviews, Rural Outreach and Re-directed Workers’ Program. Related efforts have included:

   • Spearheading the construction of the first of four regional offices in Tubmanburg, Bomi County as part of decentralizing services to rural civil servants under our Rural Outreach Program. The Office in Tubmanburg will provide services to civil servants in Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Bomi Counties, respectively.

   • Working along with Messrs Daylue Goah, Media Consultant, and George Werner, Technical Advisor to the Director-General of the Agency, in the publication of The Civil Servant, the quarterly news magazine produced by the Agency intended to publicize the various programs, achievements and undertakings of the Agency, so that the broad-spectrum of the Liberian populace can be continuously informed and sensitized.

   • In an effort to enhance capacity and effective leadership in government for middle and senior level government officials, the CSRD in close collaboration with the Capacity Building Coordinator, Mrs. Wanneh Clarke- Reeves, designed and implemented an Executive Leadership Seminar over a three-day period at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex on October 4th and 6th respectively. This forum brought together middle and senior level executives from the CSA, as well as from other government ministries, who took a close and critical look at the effectiveness of leadership in government and the management of human resources – within the Liberian context. Facilitators for this seminar were Drs. Donnell Scott and Emmanuel Oristsejafor, renowned authors, researchers and professors at the North Carolina Center University, Durham, North Carolina USA.

   • The CSRD serves as a focal point collaboratively with the Chair of the Pillar Dr. C. William Allen. The Pillar convenes periodically to review deliverables implemented by the sub-pillars of Governance and Rule of Law. The CSRD was represented over the year at these meetings through its Head, Mr. Oblayon B. Nyemah. Each sub-pillar makes regular updates on their deliverables to the Pillar Chair, which is subject to rigorous critique and recommendations.

   • And lastly, the CSRD held sensitization workshops for universities on “Taking Civil Service to the Universities.”

Oblayon B. Nyemah is Head of the Liberian Civil Service Reform Directorate. He can be reached at: onyemah@yahoo.com. Donnell Scott, Director of the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) Program at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) International Director, has worked with the author in Liberia and contributed to this article. He can be reached at: dscott@nccu.edu.