UL Faculty, Staff Refuse to Return, Question US$4 Million No-Bid Renovation Contract

Published: October 28, 2026

MONROVIA — University of Liberia faculty and staff will stay off the job until the administration signs a written agreement on their demands, their association said Monday, and it questioned a reported US$4 million renovation contract it said the administration sought to award to DELTA Construction Company without competitive bidding.

By Blamo N. Toe

The University of Liberia Faculty and Staff Association said in a statement that the disengagement its members began on July 17 and that a unanimous vote of its General Assembly on Aug. 20 reaffirmed it remains in force. Submitting a draft agreement, it said, is not a settlement.

“Be assured that the leadership of ULFASA will seek to honor the mandate of the General Assembly,” the statement said.

The association said the administration asked the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission for permission to award the renovation contract to DELTA through single-source procurement and that the PPCC issued a no-objection.

“The PPCC gave its no-objection. Despite this ‘No Objection,’ we have not seen any scope of work from the UL administration or the contractor,” the statement said.

ULFASA said renovation work is under way on the Capitol Hill and A.M. Dogliotti campuses but not at Fendall, and that there is no information about work at the Straz-Sinje campus. It also said relations between the administration and the Ministry of Public Works over the renovation are strained.

“We can also confirm a strained relationship between the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) and the UL administration regarding the renovation processes, which has led to two withdrawals of the MoPW,” the statement said.

The association’s demands include NASSCORP benefits and retirement arrangements, salary disparities and increments for staff, an outstanding 40% payment owed to faculty, changes in employment status, renovations and restroom facilities, supplies and operating budgets, pay for adjunct lecturers and teaching overloads, transportation, a human resources manual and compensation related to study leave. It is also demanding the reinstatement of all dismissed employees and maintains its votes of no confidence in the associate vice president for human resources and the acting vice president for fiscal affairs.

ULFASA said it has submitted a memorandum of understanding to the university’s Board of Trustees to end the stalemate but has received no response and seen no action on its concerns.

The statement follows an Oct. 21 news conference at which University of Liberia President Layli Maparyan postponed the 2026 graduation, gave no date for reopening and said the administration was reviewing a new draft quadripartite memorandum of understanding among the administration, the University of Liberia Faculty Association, the University of Liberia Staff Association and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

“We are aware that it has been painfully slow,” Maparyan said then of the negotiations. She said the administration had been working to resolve issues including NASSCORP contributions, retirement benefits, pay disparities, increments and arrears “within the parameters of the law.”