ON JUNE 17, Nimba County Senator, Nya D. Twayen, made a Facebook post that was shared by many blogs, claiming that the Director General of the CSA boss testified at the Liberian Senate that 3,000 Indians are working at ArcelorMittal—doing jobs that Liberians should be doing, thus bringing ArcelorMittal into direct confrontation with the Liberianization Policy and, hence, the laws of Liberia and the government of President Joseph N. Boakai.
CONSIDERING HOW WIDELY the claim in this Facebook post has been shared on social media, authorities at ArcelorMittal said they decided to verify the claim by watching the video of the CSA boss’s appearance at the Senate on Tuesday. Joekai’s appearance at the Liberia Senate on Tuesday, June 17, was based on a request by the Senate to provide analysis of the alien work permit report conducted by the CSA.
WROTE SENATOR TWAYEN on Facebook, “CSA boss testifying at the Senate, ‘There are 3,000 Indians working with ArcelorMittal doing jobs that should be done by Liberians.” ArcelorMittal Liberia has described the claim as incorrect.
ACCORDING TO ARCELORMITTAL, the CSA boss said, “Some of the jobs are jobs that Liberians should be doing,” and not all of the jobs for which the 3,000 work permits were issued. It is important to note that the number of aliens that work for ArcelorMittal as of 2024 is 728, according to the CSA boss presentation.
MEANWHILE, ARCELORMITTAL LIBERIA has underscored that they are a part of the ArcelorMittal group, a global steel and mining company operating across 22 countries. On the other hand, AFCON, an infrastructure engineering and construction company, is a diversified Indian conglomerate that operates in Liberia as a subcontractor of ArcelorMittal Liberia.