Monrovia – Delay on the part of the Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Elfrieda Tamba to re-instate 10 of its dismissed employees despite a Supreme Court’s order continues to claim the attention of Civil Society organizations and other Liberians.
The latest to comment on the saga is the Former Deputy Director General of the National Insurance Corporation of Liberia (NICOL) Mamadee Keita.
In the wake of the LRA’s boss disobedience of the high court’s order, the former Managing Director of NICOL Keita in a special press statement issued, copy of which in FPA’s possession warned the LRA boss to act in compliance with the due process of law, saying her continuous violation of the rights of the dismissed employees will no longer be tolerated.
“I called on Madam Elfrieda Tamba to fully re-instate the 10 illegally dismissed employees of the entity with full payment of their six months’ salary arrears, incentives as well as give them their appropriate and regular assignments as per the Supreme Court’s ruling”, said Keita.
Keita also called on Madam Tamba to immediately restore the legitimate rights of the LRA employees threatening that there will be a peaceful protest within the confines of the laws and constitution of Liberia organized and executed with the full participation of the marginalized, oppressed, suppressed, victims of injustice and angry Liberians across Montserrado County and its environs.
The 10 employees were ordered transferred from the then Ministry of Finance to the LRA but were ordered dismissed by Madam Tamba when she accused them of involvement in corruption during the time of their employment at the former Finance Ministry.
The affected employees protested against their dismissal and filed a writ of prohibition through their legal counsel Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe to the Supreme Court Chamber Justice Kabineh Ja’neh.
Since the hearing, Associate Justice Ja’neh ordered the LRA boss in October 2015 to re-instate the dismissed employees as they were never given any due process to be found guilty of the allegation.
The 10 dismissed employees were briefly re-instated in December 2016 after the Supreme Court Justice Ja’neh threatened to jail the LRA boss on contempt charges.
However, the dismissed employees were barred from entering the premises of the LRA accordingly based on order of the LRA boss on grounds that they have refused to sit an essay test which is one of the criteria for employment at the LRA.
But the affected employees rubbished the allegation indicating that essay test was no criteria at the LRA describing the essay test earmarked for them as a witch-hunt by the LRA boss not to accept them on the job.
Madam Tamba was in October 2015 mandated by the Supreme Court to re-instate the dismissed employees because their dismissal was illegal but the LRA boss is yet to comply.