By Matthew Turry
In a swift response to the unrest at the Ministry of Labor, Minister Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah has clarified that the ministry has not received any report from the Civil Service Agency (CSA) regarding the dismissal of employees.
The unrest followed a statement made by the Director General of the CSA, Josiah Joekai, during a press briefing at the Ministry of Information Culture Affairs, and Tourism. Joekai had disclosed that a recent staff evaluation process at the Ministry of Labor might lead to dismissals, suspensions, or warnings.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, Minister Kruah stated, “that report had not reached my desk, I have not received the report from Civil Service Agency, and it is just based upon the CSA press conference yesterday.”
Kruah explained that when the CSA conducts such exercises, the report is supposed to come to the Ministry of Labor, and they would then review it and talk to the affected employees before taking any action.
“We are not going to just jump and dismiss anybody,” Kruah said, adding that the ministry has not dismissed anyone since taking over, except for five individuals who had impersonated and gone to Gbarpolu.
The Labor Minister urged the aggrieved workers to remain calm and wait for the ministry to review the report, if and when it is received from the CSA. He emphasized that the ministry is concerned about its workers and will ensure that any decision is made in an orderly manner.
“Those who maybe, there some missing information that may not have been available to Civil Service Agency, if they make them available, we will engage CSA to say look this person were either during jury service at the Temple of Justice, or this person was on leave when you did the exercise or this person were sick at the time,” Kruah added.
The minister’s reassurance comes as an apparent relief to the Ministry of Labor’s staff, who had previously barricaded the premises in response to the rumors of dismissals.
