The Director General of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Josiah Joekai, has firmly dismissed viral social media claims that he and Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Ngafuan, misappropriated $43 million.
Speaking at the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing on Tuesday, Joekai described the allegations as a “diabolical” political smear campaign orchestrated by individuals loyal to the former regime of President George Weah.
In recent weeks, supporters of the former government have circulated unverified posts alleging that the two officials stole millions in public funds. These posts have gained traction online, with their authors promising to protest for the alleged missing money. However, Joekai insists that these claims are baseless and rooted in a deliberate attempt to discredit the current administration and its reform efforts.
Joekai explained that the false accusations stem from a payroll request submitted by then-House Speaker Fonati Koffa to the CSA. The request sought approval for the payroll of the central administration of the House of Representatives, with a monthly figure that increased from $284,000 to $327,000, resulting in a $43,000 variance.
“I asked Speaker Koffa to justify the payroll increase, as the CSA has oversight over all human resource transactions. When no credible explanation was provided, I rejected the request,” Joekai elaborated.
After his rejection, Joekai stated that the former leadership of the House of Representatives circumvented the CSA by creating a supplementary payroll amounting to $1.5 million to include additional names. He claims that the CSA later terminated this supplementary payroll, which he believes angered those who had financially benefited from it.
“The people calling for protests today were on the illegal payroll,” Joekai declared. “They are now using social media to distort the narrative, falsely claiming that $43 million was stolen when, in fact, the issue was a $43,000 monthly increase that I refused to legitimize. They were stealing $43,000 monthly and are now trying to confuse the public by changing ‘K’ to ‘M’—from $43K to $43M—and later added another $5 million, claiming we stole $48 million,” Joekai noted.
He emphasized that there is no $48 million missing and characterized the social media claims as blatant falsehoods. Joekai urged journalists and citizens to refer to the CSA’s annual reports and the records of the Electronic Salary and Benefits Platforms (ESRP) for transparency and verification.
“Normally, I wouldn’t respond to social media rumors, but this particular claim was designed to damage our reputations. It’s a political distraction meant to undermine decent public servants committed to reform,” he said.
Joekai highlighted the Liberian government’s ongoing efforts to improve civil servants’ wages and employment conditions, describing the administration as responsible and committed to inclusive development.
He vowed to publish the names of those terminated from the supplementary payroll created by the former leadership of the House of Representatives, stating that this would reveal the truth, reaffirming the agency’s dedication to transparency and accountability.
