MONROVIA – Civil Service Agency Director-General Dr. Josiah F. Joekai says 2,042 government employees have so far taken part in a nationwide pre-retirement counseling and data-collection exercise, as the agency advances retirement, decentralization and payroll-planning reforms.
By: Gegee Brima
The exercise, conducted with the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), runs from September 21 to October 16, 2026. According to Joekai, participants have been reached across 14 reported locations.
The program is intended to help eligible employees prepare for retirement, understand their pension entitlements and verify their employment records. Counseling covers retirement procedures, documentation, pension contributions and benefits, the statutory retirement age of 60, medical retirement requirements and applicable retention procedures.
Joekai said employees born before 1980 generally need at least 100 monthly contributions to qualify for a NASSCORP pension, while those born in 1980 or later generally need at least 144 contributions, subject to NASSCORP’s eligibility rules.
As part of the process, NASSCORP verifies contribution records, processes benefit-claim forms and conducts biometric identification. Employees are also asked to provide documents including retirement letters, identification cards and passport-size photographs.
The final week of the exercise, October 12–16, covers Nimba, Margibi, Grand Gedeh, Montserrado, Bomi, Bong and Gbarpolu counties. Joekai urged government spending entities and human resource directors to help eligible employees attend their scheduled sessions.
He said the CSA has asked the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to provide funds for a retirement “handshake” package. The funding has not yet been confirmed. Joekai said the agency hopes the package will be made available to support retirees’ transition from public service.
For the 2024 retirement scheme, he said, the government arranged for eligible employees to remain at home and receive three months of salary before being transferred to the pension payroll. He described that arrangement as an alternative made when a handshake package had not been allocated.
Joekai also outlined the CSA’s efforts to decentralize public-service administration and reduce the need for employees outside Monrovia to travel to the capital for personnel services.
The agency’s regional office in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, has been renovated and is operational, he said. It serves government employees in Bomi, Gbarpolu and Grand Cape Mount counties.
Construction of the CSA’s North Central Regional Headquarters in Gbarnga, Bong County, has reached the roofing stage. Joekai said the complex will include administrative offices and conference facilities and is expected to be completed by the end of December 2026. It is planned to serve Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties.
In Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, concrete work has begun on the main administrative building, while foundation work is underway for conference facilities. Joekai said the project is expected to be completed by the end of January 2027 and will serve Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Maryland, River Gee and Sinoe counties.
The Grand Bassa County administration has provided two acres of land in Buchanan for a proposed regional headquarters. The CSA plans to seek construction funding in the 2027 national budget. The office is expected to serve Grand Bassa, River Cess and Margibi counties.
Joekai said the goal is to extend the services currently offered at CSA headquarters to regional offices, supported by appropriate staff, technology and administrative systems.
The CSA and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning have completed manpower hearings for 77 of the 109 government spending entities required to participate in preparations for the 2027 national budget, Joekai said. The agency has submitted its report to the ministry.
The 77 hearings represent a participation rate of 70.6 percent. The remaining 32 spending entities did not participate in the scheduled process.
Given the advanced stage of budget preparation, Joekai said, the CSA and the ministry will review those entities’ proposed personnel-compensation requests during executive budget hearings. He said only compensation validated through the manpower hearings or an approved joint review would be considered for the 2027 budget.
The review, according to Joekai, is intended to align staffing and compensation requests with verified personnel records, legitimate institutional needs and government fiscal priorities. He also said the two agencies plan to curtail extra compensation allocations that are not adequately justified.
Joekai credited President Joseph Boakai’s administration with supporting civil-service reforms and thanked the Ministry of Finance, NASSCORP, CSA staff and other partners. He also praised Deputy Director-General for Human Resource Management and Policy Edwin K. Jalla and Anthony Dano Miaien for helping coordinate the agency during his approximately one-month absence.
Joekai said the reforms are intended to improve employee welfare, expand access to government services and strengthen accountability in staffing and compensation. While acknowledging that challenges remain, he said the agency was working toward a more professional, efficient and decentralized civil service.
