IPNEWS: The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) is demanding the immediate dismissal or resignation of all members of the Board of Directors of the National Port Authority (NPA), including its chairperson, Rev. Luther Tarpeh.
CSNL stated that this decision is necessary due to the Board’s persistent silence and failure to exercise proper oversight over the management and operations of the entity, as well as its Managing Director, Sekou Dukuly.
The Board of Directors of the NPA is the statutory body charged with the responsibility of guiding and overseeing the performance of the Managing Director of the National Port Authority.
However, the Network argued that, instead of providing oversight, the NPA Board, under the leadership of Rev. Tarpeh, has failed to address the poor administrative management and the massive financial mismanagement at the institution.
The Civil Society Network of Liberia expressed deep concern over how the National Port Authority has, in a short period of time, lost its status as the gateway to Liberia’s economy under the current Board, which is expected to provide managerial and operational policies for implementation by the Managing Director.
The group noted that the silence of the NPA Board on several poor administrative decisions and policies instituted by Mr. Dukuly makes them complicit in the issues plaguing the institution.
In just over a year of overseeing the NPA, the Board appears to be enabling the Managing Director’s poor performance, which has led to inefficiency, lack of accountability, a decline in revenue generation, and a significant increase in expenditure.
CSNL emphasized that the NPA Act empowers the Board of Directors to set policies and supervise their implementation by the Managing Director.
The Network further pointed out that it is unreasonable to retain the current composition of the NPA Board amid an unprecedented increase in the entity’s wage bill from $800,000 to $1.4 million monthly, along with the denial of employees’ rightful benefits, such as gas, rice, and scratch cards.
