Monrovia โ The Workplace of the Ombudsman has ordered the Nationwide Port Authority (NPA) to reinstate three senior employeesโSema G. Tulay, Georgina Dixon, and Annett S. Neboโafter an investigation concluded their dismissals have been illegal, violated the Code of Conduct, and breached inner rules.
In an in depth 14-page report launched July 25, 2025, the Ombudsman dominated that the dismissals have been carried out with out due course of and in contradiction of each the NPAโs Worker Handbook and the 2014 Code of Conduct for public officers. The report additionally accuses the NPA Administration of obstructing the investigation by refusing to seem for scheduled hearings, claiming the Ombudsman lacked jurisdiction.
The report, titled โReport No. 008 of 2025: Investigation on Administrative Criticism on Alleged Moral Breach of the Code of Conduct and Unlawful Dismissalโ, stems from a grievance filed earlier this 12 months by the three former NPA staffers, who have been dismissed in October 2024 following a controversial inner audit that cited discrepancies throughout auctions held between 2022 and 2023.
NPA Present in Breach of Regulation and Process
Based on the report, the complainants have been suspended, investigated, and later dismissed based mostly on the auditโs findings. Nevertheless, the Ombudsman discovered that they have been denied the chance to adequately evaluate or reply to the audit report and weren’t allowed authorized illustration in the course of the investigationโactions which the Ombudsman described as violations of each their constitutional and administrative rights.
โThe dismissals, as alleged by the complainants, occurred with out them being offered the chance to correctly reply to the findings,โ the report states. โThe complainants assert that their dismissals have been arbitrary, lacked transparency, and violated authorized devices equivalent to their proper to due course of.โ
The investigation discovered the NPA in violation of:
โข Article 5, Part 2 (A)(I) of the NPA Workers Handbook
โข Part 4.10 of the Code of Conduct, which mandates honest and sincere therapy of workers
โข Article 20(a) of the 1986 Structure of Liberia, which ensures the best to due course of
Reinstatement and Disciplinary Suggestions
The Ombudsman has ordered the speedy reinstatement of the three workers to their earlier positions, with retroactive cost of salaries and advantages. It has additionally instructed the NPA to urgently handle problems with transparency and accountability raised within the inner audit and to research claims that distributors might have altered financial institution deposit slipsโallegations which the audit reportedly ignored.
In a powerful rebuke of NPA management, the report additional advisable that Managing Director Sekou Dukuly and his in-house counsel enroll in administrative coaching on the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA) inside seven days at their very own expense. Failure to conform, the Ombudsman warned, will end in a proper advice for his or her suspension.
NPAโs Authorized Arguments Rejected
The NPAโs authorized crew, led by Cllr. Pei Edwin Gausi, had challenged the Ombudsmanโs jurisdiction, claiming the matter was strictly a labor dispute and that the staff weren’t public officers. However the Ombudsman dismissed these arguments, citing the NPAโs institution by acts of the Liberian Legislature and its classification as a state-owned enterprise.
โThe NPA, falls underneath the Government Department of the Liberian Authoritiesโฆ subsequently, the NPA is topic to the moral supervisory authority of the Workplace of the Ombudsman,โ the report famous.
Monitoring and Authorities Motion
The Ombudsmanโs workplace mentioned it would carefully monitor NPAโs compliance with its suggestions and can escalate the matter to related authorities businesses if the port authority fails to behave. The report has been formally submitted to the Ministry of Labor and the NPA Board for additional enforcement.
This case marks a major check of the powers of the Ombudsman Workplace, and will set a precedent for the way public establishments deal with inner disciplinary actions and moral accountability in Liberia.
