Your Excellency, as you may be aware, income inequality in Liberia has been, and still is, a major source of conflict and widening poverty for millions of Liberians. The “Agenda for Transformation: Steps Towards Liberia Rising 2030” (AFT), ….
Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President, Republic of Liberia
Executive Mansion
Monrovia, Liberia
16 February 2015
Dear President Sirleaf:
The Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD) extends to you our compliments, and most respectfully requests Your Excellency to address institutionalized income inequality in government by establishing an independent Salary and Remuneration Commission. We are confident this action will help to reduce the excessive and extravagant allowances and benefits permeating Government and provide impetus to your public sector reform initiative. Moneys saved from this measure could be used to increase salaries for underpaid security personnel, civil servants, judges, teachers, doctors and nurses; but moreover, contribute to social service delivery for less fortunate citizens.
Your Excellency, as you may be aware, income inequality in Liberia has been, and still is, a major source of conflict and widening poverty for millions of Liberians. The “Agenda for Transformation: Steps Towards Liberia Rising 2030” (AFT), which you signed and launched in 2013, concluded that “income inequality and socio-political marginalization (wherein a mere 3.9 percent of the population controlled more than 60 percent of income, and a large share of the benefits from natural resources) fueled the brutal conflict that shook the nation for 14 years.”
The AFT sternly warned that “beginning 2012 Liberia faced omnipresent threat (50 percent chance) of relapsing into violent conflict.” The AFT further cautioned that to permanently avoid future violent conflict, Liberia must radically address income inequality; widely share the rewards of economic growth, and purposefully spread the benefits across the population. See Page 2 of the Agenda for Transformation and the World Bank’s, ‘Crisis Impact: Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Face Greater Risks’ found here.
Your Excellency, despite this unnerving warning, and in spite of the precarious economic conditions of many hardworking Liberians, income inequality amongst public sector employees has reached the highest in Liberian history. To date, your government is yet to develop adequate measures and systematic approach aimed at addressing alarming income inequality in government; i.e. pay reform – harmonizing compensation across public sector. As a result, income inequality amongst public sector employees is likely to reach explosive limits – threatening security, health and education and the negative peace we enjoy today. We are not unaware that the Civil Service Agency under the stewardship of the current Minister of Education, Mr. George Werner, attempted harmonizing public service salaries and benefits but the thousands of dollars spent on such a laudable initiative has come to waste as the result thereof has become elusive and lost in delivery.
Our security forces including the men and women of the Armed Forces of Liberia, the officers of the Liberia National Police and civil servants are the direct victims of this unjust and unfair financial power play. Their take-home pay cannot take them home. A patrolman of the Liberia National Police earns a gross monthly salary of US$157.00; an officer of the Liberia Immigration Services makes a gross salary of US$100.00 per month; a public school teacher at the C- certificate level earns US$130.00 per month while at the judiciary, a Circuit Court Judge earns US$4,500.00 per month and a magistrate earns US$1,500.00 per month.
In January 2017, you mentioned in your Annual Message to the Legislature that you have increased the salaries of a medical nurse to US$350.00 per month while a medical doctor earns US$2,000.00 per month. We applaud you for your magnanimity and altruism in increasing the pay of medical doctors to two thousand dollars(US$2,000.00) per month to care for dying children, pregnant women and until recently, an Ebola-affected nation. Notwithstanding, we are also concerned that you have allowed Commissioners and Directors at the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), the National Port Authority (NPA), the General Auditing Commission, the Liberia Maritime Authority (LMA), the Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC), etc, to increase their individual salaries to between fifteen to twenty five thousand dollars (US$15,000.00 – to US$25,000.00) per month in addition to gasoline slips and scratch cards. Deputies at these agencies are each making as much as US9,000.00 to US$11,000.00; the same amount that is allocated to the Associate Justices and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.
We are told that recently, the LRA increased salary from US10,000.00 to a whooping US$16,000.00 per month. To pay for these huge salaries, your government has increased taxes (from 6% to 10%) on goods consumed by poor people for survivor, including drinking water, food and communication). In this age of democratic equalitarianism and economic justice, your government is still taking necessities from the poor, and giving luxury to overly paid officials. This is Robin Hood in reverse.
Your Excellency, the question this Administration must address on the eve of its departure is ‘who decides the salaries of high level public servants?’ We are told that Ministers and Assistants endorsed their current salaries at a Cabinet Meeting as well as those of independent commissions. Even scaring is the fact that for some other autonomous agencies, the Managing Directors and Director Generals, sanctioned by reward-seeking Boards are the sole deciders and determiners of their own salaries without control, giving rise to the temptation of astronomically bloated increases, as self-interest would demand.
Madame President, instead of providing oversight, check and balances, and demand drastic reduction in compensation for public officials, our legislators have fallen helpless to the surging desire of financial wealth, floating in the ocean of self-interest, riding the tides of greed without common sense, and landing on the shores of unjust enrichment. They have instead demanded and manipulated increases to their OWN compensations and benefits, with utter indifference to the health, education, security, justice and judicial sectors – institutions that serve the poor. They have neglected to increase salaries for security personnel, teachers, civil servants, health workers and judicial workers. As you attested in one of your media interviews, ‘I didn’t give it to them, they took it’.
Unfortunately Madam President, though you have the power and authority to veto legislative budget with bloated compensations and allowances, you have failed to do so in the face of unfair and inequitable resource allocation. Under your watch, Madam President, the President Pro Temp of the Liberian Senate increased his salary, otherwise known as special allowance, from US$ 6,500.00 per month in 2016 to US$30,000.00 per month in 2017, in addition to other monthly allowances worth thousands of dollars. The Speaker’s salary is increased from US$6,000.00 per month in 2016 to US$23,000.00 per month in 2017. The Deputy Speaker’s salary is increased from US$5,000.00 per month in 2016 to US$20,000.00 per month in 2017. During the same period, the salary of each senator and representative is increased by more than 300%. These salaries are taken in addition to numerous allowances and benefits worth thousands of United States dollars. For Reference see the 2016/2017 National Budget of the Government of Liberia.
Your Excellency, this financially predatory behavior is ludicrous, outrageous and inhumane in a country where taxes have been increased from 6% to 10% on goods (including water and food that poor people rely on for survivor) just to support the salaries of officials. These institutions are public institutions, and money being lavishly spent on official compensation is public money.
Overpaying a public official is an abuse of executive compensation, is reckless and is the highest level of irresponsible governance. The Liberian people deserve better. Excess moneys from these institutions should be used to increase civil servants, judges and security personnel’s salaries, and fund social projects for the poor, instead of providing ballooning salaries to senior staff members of public institutions and legislators.
We must learn from the nationalistic example of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC) under the leadership of former Senator Cletus Wortorson and former President Samuel K. Doe in the 1980’s. When there was surplus money at LPRC, Wortorson and Doe refused to fill private pockets or provide overblown salaries to officials, but rather channeled the money to construct low cost housing for poor and middle income people at what is proudly known today as New Matadi Estate. Since that day up to present, LPRC has only built personal mansions for its officials, without contribution to viable social service delivery.
Your Excellency, previous reform efforts by you to address this problem have been inadequate, and distastefully unsatisfactory, and in some cases selective. In 2006 when you assume office, ministers in your government earned a gross salary of US$2,400.00, with a net pay of US$1800.00, excluding per-diems and other allowances and benefits.
Other ministers, understandably because of their skills and professionalism, were paid US$10,000.00 – to US$15,000.00 by international development partners. In 2013, by your directive, your Cabinet approved a pay structure that triple ministers’ salaries to US$6,000.00 monthly, while deputy ministers and ambassadors earned US$4,500.00; and assistant ministers, US$3,000.00. These pay raises did not affect autonomous commissions and other agencies of Government, most of whom were and are still determining their own salaries, at astronomical rates, without reference to any policies.
At the same time, many ministers were, and are still, serving on the boards of public corporations with hefty board fees, in the range of $3,000.00 – to US$5,000.00 each per month, in addition to their salaries. Later, most of your ministers ignored the approved pay structure, bulldozed the budget process, and arbitrarily increased their salaries and benefits, with no punitive action from you.
In 2015, your former Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Amara M. Konneh, announced that out of the US$3.1 billion dollars revenue generated between 2012 and 2015, about 60% was spent on government administration which includes salaries and other incentives to government employees, with bulk of the money distributed among government officials, and very little to civil servants, judges, police, the army, teachers, health workers, and social service delivery. Government officials constitute only about 10% of the total government workforce of 40,000 people, in a country with a population of 3.5 million people.
The pronouncement from Minister Konneh caused huge public outcry. Consequently, on June 29, 2015, you ordered a reduction in the income of government officials, and mandated heads of ministries, agencies, and autonomous Commissions to ensure appropriate adjustments within their institutions, effective July 1, 2015. According to your directive, the gross monthly salary of Ministers inclusive of all compensatory allowances and benefits (including gas slips and scratch cards) shall not exceed US$7,000.00 and those of deputy ministers shall not exceed US$5,500.00, and so forth. Based on the new salary structure, officials of government were responsible to pay for their own scratch cards, gas slips and vehicle repairs and maintenance.
However, despite your directive, gas slips and other incentives are still distributed amongst officials. Many officials are still earning far more than your authorized threshold. Heads of public corporations, and autonomous Commissions, including LRA, LTA, RIA, LMA, NPA, GAC, IAA, LPRC, etc, determine their own monthly salaries ranging from US$15,000.00 – US$25,000.00. The situation is also common with legislators. The following chart displays the monthly allowances of Lawmakers.
Your Excellency, the way and manner in which the Legislature, with the knowledge and participation of the Executive Branch under your watch, arbitrarily deducts millions of dollars from the health, justice, security, judicial and educational sectors – institutions that serve the poor, and use up the money for salaries and allowances for the legislatures and selected institutions of the Executive is tantamount to economic treason against the citizens of this country. As evidence, below are the facts and they are indisputable:
Legislative Budget Mishap
- During the same year when Ebola took the worst toll on Liberians, 2014/2015 budget year, although US$63 million was allocated to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in the national budget, The Legislature conspired and connived in the heat of Ebola and deducted US$8 million from the budget of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare – the ministry responding to Ebola. Legislators divided up US$4.8 million of the money up amongst themselves and only approved US$54.9 million on the Health Ministry at the end of the year. During that year, the Legislature spent a total of US41 million on itself at the end of the year, instead of the initial US$37 million budgeted and approved. This means the Legislature spent an extra $4.8 million on itself and reduced the budget of the Ministry of Health while Liberians were dying of Ebola. Similarly, during the same year, the budget of the Ministry State for Presidential Affairs, which houses your office, increased its approved budget from US$6.6 million to US$7.4 million. See the budget and actual expenditure during the 2014/2015 budget year, as contained in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 National Budgets of the Government of Liberia;
- Similarly, although a little over $2 million was appropriated for Phebe Hospital in Bong County, only $1.8 million was spent on Phebe;
- The same year, the budget of the Ministry of Education was reduced from $37.7 million to $37.2 million;
- The budget of the Ministry Justice that houses the Liberia National Police, Liberia Immigration Service and prosecutors was reduced from $35 million to $32 million;
- The budget of the Judiciary was reduced from $19 million to $17.9 million;
- In addition, during the most recent economic recession in which the Government of Liberia announced “budget shortfall” in 2015/2016 National Budget, wherein former Finance Minister, Mr. Amara M. Konneh, wrote all government institutions including Legislators that their budget would be reduced, amidst threats of contempt from the Legislature against Minister Konneh, the Legislature and the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs’ budget was in fact NEVER REDUCED, but rather INCREASED dramatically, while the budgets of institutions that serve the poor, including Justice, Judiciary, Education and Health were drastically reduced in the following form and manner:
- During that year, that is 2015/2016 budget year, the Legislature’s appropriated budget was US$41 million prior to the announced reduction to all government institutions. After the announced “reduction”, the Legislature increased its own budget by adding extra US$13 million, distributed it amongst its members to support their luxurious lifestyles, thereby spending a total of US$54 million on members of Legislature. More than US$8 million of this amount was used by the Office of the President Pro-Temp alone; US$1 million used by the Senate and US$2 million used by the House of Representative. No extra money was used by the Office of the Speaker during this time, presumably because Speaker Tyler was being removed from office with allegations that Presidency was an influential factor. However, the Legislature reduced or caused to be reduced the budgets of institutions that benefit the poor – including health, justice, judiciary and education. We request Your Excellency to take keen notice of the Legislature’s actual expenditure during the 2015/2016 budget year, as contained in the 2016/2017 National Budget of the Government of Liberia.
- Additionally, during the same year, 2015/2016 – the year of “budget shortfall,” the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs increased its allocated budget from US$11.2 million to more than US$17.7 million, at the same time that budgets of the judiciary, justice, health and education were drastically reduced as we will see below.
- During the same year of “budget shortfall” in which the Legislature increased its budget by US$13 million, and increased the budget of the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs by US$6.5 million, the Legislature, without regard to the plight of justices, judges and thousands of judicial workers who make the ultimate sacrifice with little or nothing, appallingly reduced or caused to be reduced the budget of the Judiciary from US$18.6 million to US$14.4 million in the name of budget shortfall. We request Your Excellency to take keen notice of the Legislature’s actual expenditure during the 2015/2016 budget year, as contained in the 2016/2017 National Budget of the Government of Liberia.
- Additionally, during the same year of “budget shortfall” in which the Legislature increased its own budget by US$13 million, the Legislature, without regard to the plight of struggling prosecutors, members of the Liberia National Police, and the officers of the Liberia Immigration Service reduced or caused to be reduced the budget of the Ministry of Justice from US$52.9 million to US$40.8 million in the name of “budget shortfall.” We request Your Excellency to take keen notice of the Legislature’s actual expenditure during the 2015/2016 budget year, as contained in the 2016/2017 National Budget of the Government of Liberia.
Your Excellency has the power to act and address this grave injustice of income inequality. We most respectfully request you to act! A surest way to do this is to establish an independent Salary and Remuneration Commission, and we so recommend. Such commission will promote and ensure coherence in government pay structure, and harmonize salaries across sectors, based on a well-formulated national policy.
Recommendations:
- Establish an independent salary and remuneration commission
- Develop a national policy on salary and remunerations including allowances
- Propose and submit in your next fiscal budget the following salary categories
- President – US$17,000 maximum, per month with allowances
- Vice President US$14,000 maximum per with allowances
- Speaker – US$12,000 maximum, all allowances inclusive
- President Pro-Temp – US12,000 maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Senator – US$10,000 maximum, all allowance inclusive
- Representatives – US$8,000maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Chief Justice – US$12,000 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Associate Justices – US$11,000 minimum, all allowances
- Circuit Judges – US$8,000 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Ministers – US$7,000 maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Deputy Ministers – US5,000maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Assistant Ministers US$4,000 maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Heads of autonomous commissions and authorities – US$8,000 maximum, all allowances inclusive;
- Deputies at autonomous commissioners and authorities – US$6,000, maximum, all allowances inclusive
- Medical Doctors – US$10,000 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Nurses – US1,500 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Patrolman and Immigration officer – US$500 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Public School Teacher US$500 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Lowest Level Civil servant US$250 minimum, all allowances inclusive
- Abolish the untaxed allowance system as breeding ground for unjust enrichment and placed everyone in government on taxable income.
- Remove government procurement away from line institutions and delegate the General Services Agency to be the only institution of government responsible for all government’s procurement consistent with Section 51.2 (a) of the New Executive Law of Liberia, to reduce abuse and fraud in government’s procurement.
While we explore various options to seek judicial intervention into this matter, we believe you can assume and play leadership role in equitably harmonizing pay structure across public sectors.
We remain,
Yours truly,
IN THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY
Aloysius Toe, BA, MA, MA, JD, Chief Executive Officer, FOHRD
Mobile: +231 777 937 164/ Email: [email protected]