By: Julius Konton
Monrovia:
Forty fellows under the President’s Young Professionals Program are expected to be deployed in the local and central government.
The disclosure came following the end of a rigorous vetting and recruitment process.
Speaking during an acquaintance meeting with the Board Chair, the Executive Director of the President’s Young Professionals, Ciata Stevens d’Almeida, said twelve of the forty fellows will be deployed in local government, with seven strategically in Bong and five in Lofa Counties. At the same time, the remaining twenty-eight will be directly assigned in Montserrado County, central government areas.
Very impressed with the process, the Board Chair of the PYPP, Dr. Josiah Joekai, hailed the Executive Director and her team for a job well done.
Speaking to the fellows, Dr. Joekai challenged them to see the values of respect, honesty, integrity, transparency, and accountability as key in their various institutions.
With significant impact of productive results in the larger society from past and current fellows over the years, Joekai believes that the PYPP module is one of the best ways to ensure effective and efficient public service delivery across the Country.
“We will not put square pecks in round hole, we are looking for qualified people and one of the best ways and channels to getting them is the PYPP’s approach and once I remain Director General of the Civil Service Agency, we will prioritize PYPs”, he maintained.
According to him, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai significantly hired PYPs, especially in key positions, because they have and continue to deliver effectively in public service as such he will jealously protect the PYPP module because, it has proven to be perfect and very successful.
Liberia’s public service, he stated, should be sizable and effective, including having competent people to do the job in order to get the best results possible.
At the same time and following their meeting with the Liberian leader, he (President Boakai) so elated about the level of work done at the program give a mandate that he wants to be in the loop of the PYPP’ s activities especially so when it is one of his mandates in keeping with his vision for accountability, transparency and integrity in public service.
The Director General of the CSA who assured the fellows that he will create a pipeline between the PYPP and the CSA to ensure effective and productive public service delivery also disclosed that he will communicate with all Ministries and agencies of government to give priority to PYPs to be absorb within their respective systems and institutions.
Speaking further, he stressed that the PYP is critical in preparing people for the CSA.
He used the ocassion to encouraged Liberians to now see the need to pick up Professional fields of studies or careers that are needed for the job market unlike the regular ones.
“We have so many people with degrees across the Country but no jobs because of their area of specialization, namely; Accounting, financial management, public administration and many others”, he added.
According to him, there is fundamentally a problem with picking careers in Liberia and it has to be addressed as such, the PYPP is one of the best modules to help the process “, he re-emphasized.
” I sat and listened to you people introducing yourselves in various specialized areas to include : Bio Medical Science, Environmental Engineering, Agriculture, Bio- Chemistry, Demography, Public Health, Nursing, Social Work and many others and these are fields Liberians should be picking in order to dominate the labour market which the foreigners are now doing “, he noted.
” We are alienated in our labor force in the Country because our people degrees don’t have backgrounds in the area we need people for”, he said.
However, with the fast progress of the PYPP, Joekai is convinced that Liberia is ready and is taking steps to change the old age story for the better to ensure that public service has the best and specialized people available, very professional, prepared and willing to do the job in the interest of the sector and the Country in general.
