The House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency has instructed the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to upgrade its banking system to prevent a recurrence of salary-related- issues affecting employees of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI).
The directive comes in response to concerns raised by BWI employees over inconsistent salary alerts and discrepancies in their account balances.
The Chairman of the Committee, Anthony Williams, emphasized the importance of a reliable banking system and urged the BWI administration to introduce pay slips for employees, despite the existing salary alert notifications from LBDI.
He noted that this measure would ensure that employees are fully aware of their earnings and deductions.
Speaking before the committee, BWI Principal, Nancy T. Freeman, detailed the institution’s repeated efforts to resolve the issue with LBDI.
She stated: “Our records show that BWI workers have been banking with LBDI for many years. Since my assumption as Principal eight months ago, we have written to the bank several times regarding concerns over confusing SMS alerts related to employee salaries.
In August 2024, LBDI’s Kakata Branch Manager, Freeman Kollie, assured us that the issue originated from the bank’s IT department and that corrective measures would be taken. While the problem appeared to have been resolved, it resurfaced at the end of January 2025, leading to unrest on our campus.
On February 18, 2025, LBDI’s Controller General, Blama Siryon, and Marketing Manager visited BWI to address the concerns of our staff. This matter remains of serious concern, as it continues to disrupt operations at the institution,” Principal Freeman noted.
During a hearing held on Wednesday, 26 March, Representatives from both LBDI and BWI appeared before the House Committee on Banking and Currency.
The LBDI acknowledged the system fault that led to the salary alert confusion and assured the committee that corrective actions had been implemented to resolve the issue.
The LBDI was represented by the following; Dr. Christian N. Allison, P. Blama M. Siryon, Debbie Blankson, and John S. Pratt; while the BWI was represented by; Dr. Nancy T. Freeman and Allison T. Thomas.
The committee reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring financial institutions provide efficient services to customers, particularly in handling salary payments for public and private sector employees.
The committee also emphasized the need for ongoing monitoring to prevent future occurrences of similar issues.