NPA Board Chair. Rev. Luther Tarpeh NPA Managing Director, Sekou Dukuly
The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) is calling for the immediate dismissal or resignation of all Board members of National Port Authority (NPA), including its Chairperson, Rev. Luther Tarpeh, for what it termed as the ‘Board’s extreme silence and failure’ to exercise oversight over the management and operations of the entity by its Managing Director, Sekou Dukuly.
The Board of Directors of the NPA is the statutory body charged with the responsibility to guide and oversee the performance of the Managing Director of the entity.
Contrary to this, the NPA Board under the Chairmanship of Rev. Tarpeh, has failed to act amidst the poor administrative management and massive financial disaster at the institution.
In a released issued Thursday April 3, 2025 in Monrovia, the group said it is saddened over the manner and form in which the National Port Authority has lost its status as the gateway to Liberia’s Economy in a short period of time under the Board of Directors, who supposed to provide managerial and operational policy for implementation by the Managing Director.
“The silence of the NPA Board on several poor administrative decisions and instituted policies by MD Dukuly at the NPA makes them complicit into the vices occurring at the institution,” the released said.
It continues: “In just a little over one year of oversight of the NPA, the Board seems to be aiding and abetting the woeful performance of the Managing Director, which has resulted into inefficiency, lack of accountability, lack of revenue generation and wanton increased in expenditure.”
The CSNL asserted that the NPA act empowers the Board of Directors to set policies and as well supervise the implementation of said policies by the Managing Director, stating that there is absolutely no essence to maintain the current membership composition of the NPA Board when there is an unprecedented surge in the wage bill of the entity from 800k to 1.4M monthly, the denial of employees’ just benefits, such as gas, rice and scratch cards among others.
The released further noted that it is even much more disappointing that the NPA MD is at the verge of laying off 400 employees, just to accommodate the fat salaries of his cronies and surrogates and no action is being taken by the Board.
“Moreover, the Civil Society Network of Liberia is totally disillusioned by the glaring silence of the NPA Board when Mr. Sekou Dukuly is violating the entity’s Human Resource Policy on Employment, Promotions and Transfers, as clearly stipulated in the NPA Handbook Section 17, which provides that promotions shall be based on MERIT upon recommendation from the Human Resource Department after employee appraisals. What is even more appalling and economically terrible is that the Rev. Tarpeh led NPA Board has neither spoken nor acted in the face of the National Port Authority’s wanton failure to remit expected subsidies or contributions to the National Budget,” the released said.
The group indicated that based on the ineffective and lackadaisical oversight role of the Board, the NPA will not make any contribution to the 2025 National Budget, after making a mere contribution of US$2Million out of the US$7Million approved in the 2024 National Budget.
“The CSNL wants to inform President Joseph Boakai that the Board of the National Port Authority is undermining his Government’s ARREST Agenda, based on its failure to properly oversee the operations of the port in making contributions towards the financing of the agenda.”
“How can the UP Chairperson, Rev. Luther Tarpeh, be the Chairperson of the Board of the NPA, and such important revenue generating entity cannot subsidy government’s projects. This is blatant neglect of duty and a failure to produce results, especially at the time the Government needs state-owned enterprises and public corporations like the NPA to be transparently managed to fund its projects and programs,” it said.
According to them, it is ridiculous that the NPA under the current Board of Directors, has allowed the NPA to become a financial disaster and revenue generating failure due to the poor managerial skills of the inexperienced and inept Sekou Dukuly as Managing Director.
“Hence, the Civil Society Network of Liberia calls for the immediate dismissal or resignation of the Chairperson, Rev. Luther Tarpeh and members of the NPA Board for aiding and abetting the reckless and disorganized leadership style of Mr. Dukuly, which has rendered the NPA from a revenue generating institution to a financial liability. A swift action from President Joseph Boakai in removing the non-result-oriented members of the Board of the NPA will restore financial sanity and sound administrative management to the gateway to Liberia’s Economy, the released concluded.
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