MONROVIA – The Administration of the University of Liberia (UL) categorically denounces false reports suggesting approximately 200 employees of the UL are slated for forced retirement.
The UL Administration further asserts that this information is false and misleading, and says such false reports are simply intended to cause unnecessary panic and ill-sentiment among employees of the University of Liberia and the UL Administration, headed by Dr. Layli Maparyan, 16th President of the University of Liberia.
As such, the UL Administration sternly warns those in the constant habit of publishing misleading information about the University in the public domain and on social media without coming to the source – UL Administration – for confirmation or comment.
Here are the facts: In March, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) asked the UL Administration to reduce the proportion of its budget utilized for personnel expenses from 90% to 55%, in order to increase the funding available for operational expenses from 10% to 45%.
This process was to commence after completion of UL’s official headcount, which was provided by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) on July 31st.
UL then began a process of payroll and headcount cleanup comprised of checking for errors, duplications, job abandoners, ghost employees, and other obvious bad data in order to remove it and reduce costs.
The GAC also provided a provisional list of UL employees whose age or length of service put them past the statutory retirement age for civil service employees, without noting that the Civil Service law applies differently to administrative employees and faculty employees.
While it is true that the UL Administration will be reviewing age and length of service data to make sure that UL is in compliance with national law, any changes in job status related to retirement will be thoroughly discussed with affected employees and will not be published publicly.
The UL President has been transparent throughout her time about the need to make changes at UL that make the institution more effective, efficient, and excellent, both operationally and academically. She wishes to inform the public, as well as those who will be affected, that such changes will be made in ways that consider the wellbeing of employees and prospective retirees. The UL Administration considers it reprehensible that a few individuals chose to generate fake news and cause anxiety in the public by publishing manufactured spreadsheets with illegally obtained private data of citizens in violation of privacy laws, and such individuals will be held accountable.
