Monrovia, September 23, 2025 – Over one-third of Judiciary staff in Montserrado County lack proper qualifications, while the system operates on a dual and illegal payroll, a document obtained by DN News Liberia has revealed.
The report, presented by Civil Service Agency (CSA) Director-General Dr. Josiah F. Joekai, Jr., shows that a total of 674 Judiciary staff were verified in Montserrado County, representing 33 percent of the national workforce.
Alarmingly, 92 of these employees had no academic qualifications whatsoever, while 243 held only high school diplomas. Another 56 staff presented questionable credentials that have been flagged for further investigation by the relevant institutions.
The CSA also discovered that the Judiciary is running a dual payroll system. One payroll is taxable and properly managed under the CSA, while the other is non-taxable and directly administered by the Judiciary, a practice that violates statutory laws and undermines transparency in public finance.
Attendance was another major issue uncovered during the verification. Nearly 40 percent of the staff verified had attendance-related penalties. Of this number, 127 employees are at risk of salary deductions due to repeated absences, 22 face suspension, and 63 could face outright dismissal for prolonged absenteeism.
The workforce profile further revealed serious imbalances and inefficiencies. The Judiciary’s staff is 70 percent male and only 30 percent female, reflecting a significant gender gap.
Eleven percent of employees are already at or above retirement age, while another 22 percent are nearing retirement within the next decade. In terms of deployment, 150 staff are misplaced in their roles, while 40 are completely underqualified for the jobs they hold.
To address these problems, the CSA has recommended a series of urgent reforms. These include collapsing the dual payroll into a single CSA-managed system, suspending or removing staff with fraudulent credentials, reclassifying and redeploying unqualified employees, and enforcing stricter attendance controls that may include salary cuts, suspensions, or dismissals. The agency also called for the introduction of biometric attendance systems, digitization of HR records, and a one-person-one-payroll policy to close existing loopholes.
Dr. Joekai cautioned that unless the Judiciary takes bold steps to implement these reforms, the credibility of Liberia’s justice system will continue to decline. “The Judiciary must take bold steps now. Failure to address these gaps will continue to erode public trust in our justice system,” he emphasized.
The CSA, meanwhile, pledged to work with the Supreme Court to enforce the recommendations, describing the findings as a wake-up call for serious reform in Liberia’s justice sector.
