MONROVIA – About 40 employees at the National Elections Commission (NEC) have suffered a huge blow as Davidetta Browne-Lansanah ordered their immediate summary dismissal for what she termed as gross insubordination directed at her during their recent protest held at the headquarters of the Commission for “hazard” benefits.
Lansanah’s action which has been termed as administrative appears to be contrary view of her fellow Commissioners who told The Liberian Investigator that she is “overstepping the bounds.”
The letter, with the same content issued to 18 employees contained today with others yet to receive it, notes “You are hereby dismissed effective immediately for having shown disrespect and gross-insubordination to the office of the Chairperson.”
The communication was issued by Pauline Korkoyah, the human resource (HR) director of NEC and approved by Anthony K. Sengbe, the Executive Director, has been vehemently rejected by the employees who are said to be pursuing recourse to their plight.
Ms. Watta B. Nyei, Secretary to the office of Commissioner Boakai Dukuly, Foday Thomas, facilitator management head were among the summarily dismissed employees.
The aggrieved staffers (dismissed) have meanwhile written to the office of Samuel Stevquah, Minister of State without Portfolio for special projects, seeking his intervention.
Referencing their November 26, 2024, meeting with representatives of the Executive Mansion, Rennie Gleegbar, spokesperson of the aggrieved and dismissed employees said the action of the Chairperson through the HR office and the Executive Director runs counterproductive to any effort meant to empathize with the workers who he said have sacrificed their comfort and everything else humanly possible to serve during elections.
“We have written to the Executive Director and told him that we reject the content of the letter. We do not deserve dismissal. We do not even deserve suspension because we have done nothing wrong. The allegation of people insulting the Madam is exaggerated and means no good.
“We therefore demand, in the strongest terms, that the Commission immediately withdraw all dismissal letters issued to members of the aggrieved workforce. We further urge the NEC to engage in constructive dialogue with the affected staff and their leadership to address and resolve these longstanding issues amicably and in accordance with the law,” the Gleegbar said in the letter addressed to the Executive Mansion.
Commissioners dismissive of Lansanah’s action
Floyd Oxley Sayor and Cllr. P. Teplah Reeves, two commissioners of the Board of Commissioners of the NEC expressed dismay and total dissatisfaction over the way the Commission has been “hijacked” by Lansanah and run as a “privately owned company.”
According to the two Commissioners who have been accused of allegedly instigating the protest at the Commission’s headquarters, the actual purpose of the Board of NEC has continued to encounter a series crises since Davidetta Browne-Lansanah became chairman.
“I have no hand in the ongoing agitation and protest by the employees of the Commission. Like my colleagues who also feel the same way, we are being disrespected by the chairman. She continues to disregard our views each time there is a major issue we are to act upon as a body. It is something that has been going for a long time, even during the 2023 elections. We thought to maintain peace because the electrons needed to go on. We did not want to be seen as obstacles but she took many decisions and continues to take them, even though counter-productive to any decent working environment,” Sayor told the Daily Observer via telephone interview.
According to the NEC commissioner, Lansanah has been spending and continues to spend money on the Commission without Board’s approval, something he and other commissioners see as unfair and totally unacceptable.
“The staffers’ protest came from the point of our failure as a Board to ensure they receive their just benefits. They are not like the regular civil servants who are fully processed by the Civil Service Agency (CSA) National Social Security Corporation (NASCORP). There is no death benefit for any employee. All those who died while working for the Commission died without benefits. This is why the hazard benefit is about each time there is election. Imagine the many terrible conditions and experiences election workers have to go through in the hard to reach places across the country,” Sayor disclosed.
Sayor said it is unfortunate how Lansanah keeps seeking public sympathy when she is the one creating obstacles for the smooth operation of the Commission.
“As board members, we did not receive the final copy of the US$53 million for the 2023 President and Legislative elections. She went on spending the money to get ballots and other election materials without any formal board approval. We have only been told how much was spent but we have got no access to transaction details such as bank statements, receipts, among others. She is running NEC unilaterally and this is not in the interest of the Commission for which it was created by law. If the framers of the Constitution or the New Elections Law wanted the chairman to be the alpha and the omega, there would have been no need for a board, instead, a kind of one person show,” he averred.
Floyd further said that the reason Lansanah had to report the surplus of US$6 million of the left over amount following the 2023 elections was because she did not get the support of fellow Commissioners to use it as she wanted.
“She made appropriations that she had no convincing explanations for. One of her requests was that US$450,000 be used to renovate the headquarters of the Commission. Was that not a miscalculation? Such an amount of money would build a mega structure and even furnish it but she wanted us to agree with her that it should be used for renovation,” he alleged.
He added that Lansanah also set aside US$80,000 for the construction of a canteen that could never have been used by anyone at the Commission owing to the fact that there are many restaurants and other food centers around the headquarters and the staffers for whose benefit she wanted to build it did not also support the idea.
“We had advised that a training center be built at the Commission’s headquarters to save the cost of renting places most often to do training each time we have to train people in Monrovia. She objected and, as she always does, walked away from the consultation. The value of consultation is being abused by her as she does not care about how we feel or think,” Sayor said, adding that the NEC chairperson also allotted over one million United states dollars for administrative operations.
He said the New Elections Law needs to be re-looked, especially the portion that has to do with the authority and powers of the chairman.
“The law makes it compelling that once the chairperson is in the country, he or she must preside over meetings. If he or she thinks a certain discussion is not going his or her way, he or she can decide to walk out and that meeting immediately comes to an end without any outcome. This needs to be modified. The Co-chairperson is there but has no voice. There is a need for amendment to clearly define the role of each Commissioner. There are different departments, including finance, technical, civic voter education, operation, among others. I think it would make sense that each Commissioner be given a particular role to serve as per his or her expertise. Like that, there’s a balance and everyone would feel important and work hard to accomplish something, Sayor suggested.
About the allegation that he and other commissioners might be dismissed, he said, he is aware that he occupies a public office and can be removed at any time but the law provides that there should be sufficient justifiable grounds to dismiss Commissioners.
“I know I have done nothing wrong. We are on the side of the law and what is important to note is that we are not what she continues to say we are. We respect the rule of law and that is the most important thing,” the NEC commissioner said.
He concluded that the allegations linking him to wrongdoings even when he was director of the data center have never been proven by anyone to be true and it is unfortunate how people continue to judge him without even hearing his side of the story, each time.
“How has this become an issue of anyone else influencing them? It is funny.”
Like Floyd Sayor, Reeves said she is not in support of the dismissal of the employees and hopes Lansanah sees it befitting to reconsider her decision.
Closure of work at the Commission
A memo said to have come from the Commission has circulated on social media noting that work is suspended for Christmas break and would resume on January 5, 2025. However, the communication department of the Commission has distanced the Commission from the circular, stating that it is misleading.
“The Christmas and New Year break will be announced in due course using the appropriate and relevant administrative channels,” the statement from the communication department indicated.
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