Monrovia — Aggrieved employees of Democracy International’s Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA) program in Liberia are demanding the immediate payment of their salaries and benefits after what they describe as a “scheme” to deprive them of their lawful compensation.
The dispute erupted following the abrupt closure of several U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded projects in Liberia, including EDA. Workers say they were blindsided by the shutdown and now find themselves unpaid and unsupported.
According to the employees, Democracy International (DI) has conditioned the payment of severance, retirement benefits, and contract balances — outlined in its own employee handbook — on USAID’s approval, a move the workers describe as highly unusual and unfair.
“We were told to choose between two options or methods of payment, which we believe was unfair to us workers and should not have been in the first place,” said one affected staffer. “After all our sacrifices, we’re left empty-handed, no communication. No payments. Just silence.”
Staff members say negotiations were never entertained, with DI officials instead unilaterally imposing their position. Matters worsened, they allege, when the EDA’s Chief of Party Antonetta Hamandishe and Deputy Chief of Party Askari Jafari left Liberia under cover of night on April 17, 2025, without notifying employees.
“We showed up at the office on Friday, April 18, to carry out asset disposition and retrieve personal belongings, only to be informed by the landlord that they had left the previous night,” one employee said. “Even members of the senior management team were unaware of their departure.”
The EDA project was designed to strengthen Liberia’s electoral systems and promote civic engagement, employing dozens of Liberians in both technical and support roles. Many of those workers are now struggling financially.
The plight of the DI-EDA staff stands in stark contrast to employees on other USAID-funded programs in Liberia, such as DAI, Mercy Corps, Winrock, and PSI, where local staff reportedly received full payment of their benefits and contract balances.
Aggrieved workers are now calling on Democracy International to settle all outstanding payments through the end of their contracts, which run until September 30, 2025. They are also urging USAID and its Liberia mission to ensure transparent oversight of project closures and demanding intervention by the Ministry of Labor.
“We believed in the work. We still do. But justice begins at home—and right now, we are asking for fairness, dignity, and the pay we deserve,” a worker said.
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