LABOR MINISTER CLLR. Cooper Kruah some time ago announced to Liberians and foreign residents that since his ascendancy as Minister, he and his team between January to July 2024 collected over US$5 million in revenue, a significant increase from the previous year.
MINISTER KRUAH DISCLOSED that the over US$5 million collected from January to July 2024, was a significant increase from the US$3.8 million in the same period of 2023, adding “the increase in revenue is attributed to better administration and enforcement of work permit regulations,”
IN TERMS OF contributing to the National Revenue Envelop in regard to the Budget, The Liberian Post hails the Ministry of Labor for such endeavor, but again those work permits that generated those millions were reportedly issued to foreigners to do jobs that are intended for Liberians. Liberians are deprived of their jobs duly set aside for them and are given to foreigners just to raise revenue.
RECENTLY, SENATE PRO-Tempore, Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence instructed the committee on Labor to scrutinize and advise Plenary on Liberia’s 2024 Alien work Permit analysis presented by Civil Service Agency (CSA) for appropriate actions.
THE REPORT PRESENTED to Plenary on Tuesday June 17, 2025 by Civil Service Agency Director General Josiah Joekai was based on a decision reached by the Plenary of the Senate requesting him to provide an in-depth analysis of work permit issuance to foreign nationals in Liberia emanating from previous report submitted by Labor Minister Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah.
ACCORDING TO CSA boss, the total work permit issued from January-December 2024 stands at 10,103. The permits he said were given in three categories with Indian nationals constituting the highest at 51.79%.
THESE CATEGORIES HE added include 8,792 Regular work permits (Long term Jobs) constituting 87%, 438 ECOWAS work Permit at 4% and 873 Gratis work permit (Humanitarian/Non-profit) also constituting 8.64%.
HIGHLIGHTING THE HIGHEST employers, Afcon, a sub company hired by ArcelorMittal Liberia received the total of 3,019 work permits for foreign employees, Bea Mountain 1,895 and ArcelorMittal 728 work permits during the period under review.
ACCORDING TO DG Joekai, the decent work act provides security and protection for Liberians and foreigners to compete for jobs at the highest and Managerial levels equally with emphasis on prioritizing Liberians with local expertise as in skills, knowledge and experiences.
THE CSA DIRECTOR General further indicated that the decent Work Act states that before issuing a work permit, the Ministry of Labor must have established that the position for which the permit is been sorted for shall imply that no Liberian is qualified for said position and must be duly advertised and vetted before permit is given to non-Liberians.
HE DISCLOSED THAT based on the CSA findings, 6,156 regular jobs are occupied by aliens which he said should be reserved for Liberians that are trained and qualified to work, 315 out of 438 ECOWAS jobs which Liberians should be benefiting from are also being occupied by foreign nationals and 873 out of 562 gratis jobs are to be reserved for Liberians also but were sadly given to non-Liberians.
BASED ON THE CSA boss’ analysis, The Liberian Post can safely deduce that had those work permits not been issued to foreign nationals to do jobs intended for Liberians a significant number of Liberians would have been employed and would have contributed more to the revenue envelop generally through tax regime, instead of those foreign nationals who only paid approximately US$1000 or above for Work Permits individually per annum.
MOREOVER, GIVING THOSE jobs to Liberians instead of foreigners, would have had a significant trickle-down effect to families and the dividends would have impacted ordinary Liberians more economically in their daily lives. If a single Liberian gets a job at least three to five other Liberians reap the benefits of that job judging from family ties and allies.
IN TERMS OF revenue generation which Labor Minister Kruah used for issuing those work permits to foreigners to do jobs intended for Liberians, for an instance, just the 3,019 foreigners employed by Afcon who paid approximately US$1,000 annually for work permit, generates only US$3,013,000, while if 3,019 Liberians were dully given those jobs that are intended for them and they are paid at least US$1000 monthly salary with a monthly tax deduction of a little over US$200, the government would have generated US$603,800 or more monthly in tax revenue from those Liberians and at least annually generates US$7,245,600 in taxes from those Liberians. The government would have gained about US$4,232,600 more in taxes had those jobs been given to Liberians who are indeed the rightful people to hold those jobs.
IN THIS REGARD, The Liberian Post, urges the Ministry of Labor to always put Liberia and Liberians FIRST before others, especially in a situation where jobs intended for Liberians are not given to foreigners at the detriment of Liberians.
REVENUE COLLECTION SHOULD not be sole basis for the Labor Ministry to grant permits to foreigners for jobs intended for Liberians because it wants to raise revenue. The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), which is the main government entity to raise revenue would have collected about US$7,245,600 annually if Liberians had occupied those jobs of which US$3,013,000 is generated annually by the Labor Ministry from those work permits for jobs intended for Liberians.
THE LABOR LAW must be respected by the very Labor Ministry that is to implement those laws by protecting Liberians in the job market based on their qualifications and competence, instead of allowing foreign companies to bring in their nationals to occupy jobs that are intended for Liberians. Liberia and Liberians FIRST before others. Those foreigners are repatriating what they earn in Liberia. You know that, Mr. Minister.
