–Says Rep. Cole
The Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Rules, Order and Administration Committee, Representative Josiah Marvin Cole, says staffers of the House of Representatives’ central administration were not recruited in line with the Civil Service Agency’s standing order and, therefore, are not considered as civil servants.
Representative Cole told newsmen on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 that since he took over as Chairman on Rules, Order and Administration, he has not seen any record in the Human Resource (HR) office proving that central administration staffers are civil servants.
Staffers of the House’s central administration are yet to receive their July salary due to alleged misunderstanding between the leadership of the House and the Director General of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Josiah F. Joekai over the submission of two payrolls. The House’s leadership submitted a new payroll for central administration staffers in the tone of US$327,643 for July, replacing the old payroll of US$284,401. With this new payroll, there is a monthly variance of US$43,241, which annualizes to US$518,892.
The Director General of the CSA, Joekai, told the House leadership through a written communication on Monday, August 5 that recruiting individuals to become civil servants within the central administration of the House of Representatives without the involvement of the CSA, specifically the approval of the CSA Director General, contravenes Chapter 5, Section 2.3 of the Standing Order of Civil Service and the Human Resources policy manual. He said CSA has not approved the new payroll submitted by the House’s leadership based on the mentioned violation of the CSA standing order.
The CSA Director General also accused the House of Representatives of refusing to allow CSA to conduct a headcount, as was done to other government ministries and agencies, including the offices of the Vice President. He also reported text messages that he considered threats, which he said was sent to him by the Speaker, J. Fonati Koffa, and Representative Cole for refusing to honor the new payroll.
Reacting to the CSA boss’s allegation, Representative Cole said at no time the House of Representatives has refused request from the CSA Director General to conduct headcount, and expressed disappointment in the CSA Director for sharing to the public a personal text message exchanged between the House’s leadership members and him.
The lawmaker noted that the rules of the House permit them to hire staffers without the involvement of the CSA. According to him, since there is no record on the book establishing the civil servant status of the central administration staffers, the CSA should not therefore dictate to them how to hire employees.
He emphasized that the House of Representatives will be left with no alternative but to cast a vote of no confidence in the CSA boss if he continues to create fights with the National Legislature. He maintained that the House’s leadership has given the approval for the conduct of the headcount as requested by the CSA.