Monrovia – FrontPage Africa has gathered that recent development at the Governance Commission (GC) has brought to light simmering tensions within the institution, as acting chairperson Alaric Tokpah has reportedly ‘illegally’ sacked the executive director, Mathias F. Korpu.
By Yaway Jaivey
Korpu’s dismissal has sparked concern over the commission’s operational integrity. The move has reignited debates over the commission’s mandate and its adherence to established protocols.
The dismissal of the Governance Commission (GC) executive director on Friday, June 7, 2024, followed recent media reports of the commission’s acting chairman Alaric Tokpa’s involvement in threatening to sack employees he single-handedly deems non-essential at the entity.
According to reports, Mr. Tokpa cited that his decision to terminate the services of the executive director was deemed necessary because his (Matthias F. Korpu) recruitment process violated the commission’s founding legislation.
“As you have been reminded numerous times, the process leading to your recruitment as Executive Director, took place in blatant violation of Section 7.1.2 of the Act creating the Governance Commission. For these and other reasons stated in the Board of Commissioners’ Resolution of June 6, 2024, your services with the Commission are hereby terminated.” – Mr. Alaric Tokpa, said in a letter of dismissal to Mr. Korpu.
Also, Mr. Tokpa has planned to terminate all employment and subject employees to reapply for their current positions, thus triggering criticisms as aggrieved employees are questioning the legality and procedural fairness of the dismissal with allegations of an internal power struggle brewing beneath the surface.
One of the core issues at the heart of this dispute is the alleged circumvention of established procedures in the recruitment of key personnel, including the Executive Director with the aggrieved employee terming Mr. Tokpa’s decision as a slap in the face of the Legislature which in its wisdom created the Commission.
“To dissolve all employment and begin reapplication is equivalent to recreating the Commission. This is also another violation that needs serious attention.” – Aggrieved Employees, Governance Commission.
The aggrieved Governance Commission’s employees have described the decision of Mr. Alaric Tokpa as taking on militancy at the Governance Commission, adding, “the Board of Commissioners Mr. Tokpa chairs have decided to terminate the employment of all employees and transition employment to contractual services- the execution of this plan began with the dismissal of the Executive Director on Friday because he dissents on the ill-intentioned plan”.
The enraged employees have confided in FPA that the Acting Governance Commission chairman’s achievements since taking over from the suspended Chair, Hon. Atty. Garrison Doldeh Yealue Jr. is threatening employees, usurping others’ functions, authoritative decision-making, illegal suspension, and dismissal of staff, amongst others.
They claimed that with these anti-governance tenants, the normal functioning of the integrity institution has been stalled.
On the dismissal of the Executive Director, the aggrieved group further that it is surprising that a Board of Commissioners composed of a professor, counselor, and other professionals would interpret the Act upside down. Section 7.1.2 of the Act states: ‘The Secretariat shall be established to render technical, professional, administrative, and clerical assistance to the Commission in pursuit of its mandate.” The aggrieved employees spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Secretariat shall be headed by an Executive Director, recruited by the Commission, and approved by the President. He/she shall serve as Secretary to the Commission and be responsible for the daily administration and operations of the Commission.
It was in pursuance to that provision that Mr. Mathias F. Korpu was recruited as Executive Director by the Board of Commissioners chaired by Hon. Atty. Garrison D. Yealue, Jr. was approved and served a letter of appointment by former President George M. Weah in 2023 to serve a term of four years.
Contrary to that provision, the current Board of Commissioners has contended that the Executive Director (Mathias F. Korpu) recruitment does not satisfy the said Provision and took the decision to transition the status of employees from permanent employment to a yearly contractual status.
FrontPage Africa also gathered that the Board of Commissioners on Thursday, June 6, 2024, issued a resolution transitioning all employees’ employment status from permanent employment to contractual services, contravening the ‘Decent Work Act of 2015 in which Chapter 13.2 (a) states: “A casual employee who is engaged by the same employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment during six months shall thereafter have the right to choose instead to become a full-time or part-time employee, according to the number of hours the employee is usually engaged to work”.
This paper learned that the dismissed Governance Commission Executive Director was mandated by the Board of Commissioners to implement the resolution but declined the implementation of the Board’s Resolution based upon the entity’s legal provision and the recruitment instrument of the Commission because some employees have served the Commission for more than ten years and should not be subjected to such a decision.
He had argued that all employees of the Commission were recruited as permanent employees and not as casual laborers; therefore, their status as employees should not be changed to contractors by any means.
At the same time, employees have termed the decision of the Board of Commissioners as a slap in the face of the Honorable Legislature, noting that dissolving all employment and requesting employees to reapply is equivalent to recreating the Commission as they are recommending serious attention to such violations.
“There is a Liberian adage that says: “When the elders are present under the palm wine tree, the tapping spear does not go missing”. Hence, the Liberian Senate alias “the House of Elders” needs to take siege of the matter and be reminded that the powerful instrument (the GC Act) that birthed the Commission is a product of their wisdom!”, they recommended.
When contacted for response, the head of communications could not be reached. His Phone was off and he did not respond to FrontPage Africa’s messages. However, responding to a previous inquiry about the commission’s plan to layoff all nonessential staff, the Commission said it is a think-tank and needs the best brains, adding “Those who are not at their best but are trainable for expertise-ship in areas that matter in the reform process will always be here. But if a staff is outside of this category, he/she will fall into nonessential staff category.”
According to the Commission, nonessential staff are those whose capacity falls below what the work demands and are not necessarily in demand, their presence at work is not in demand in meeting its operational needs as compared to essential Staff.
The aggrieved GC’s employees are also alleging that it is well known that Prof. Tokpa is being influenced by Cllr. Stanley Kparkillen who is the Vice Chair for Administration of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), and Vice Chair for Legal Affairs of the 2023 “Weah Victory Campaign” Team, was appointed to the Governance Commission 2023.
They claimed that Commissioner Kparkillen is a violator of the Code of Conduct at the Commission and the lead architect behind Prof. Tokpa’s actions, adding that both Commissioners Kparkillen and Joyce Tarpeh were not commissioned by the President thus illegitimating their status as Commissioners as they do not satisfy the legal requirements for Article 54 of the Liberian Constitution which calls for the nomination, confirmation, and appointment.
