CSA Launches Credentials Verification Exercise at NHA and Governance Commission

The Civil Service Agency (CSA) has officially launched a credentials verification exercise at the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Governance Commission (GC), marking another step in the government’s drive to ensure merit-based employment across the public sector.

The week-long initiative, running from February 3–7, 2026, seeks to verify the academic qualifications and professional experience of employees. the exercise is intended to strengthen transparency, accountability, and efficiency within Liberia’s civil service by ensuring that personnel meet the standards required for their positions.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, CSA Director-General Dr. Josiah F. Joekai Jr. emphasized that the program is focused on building credibility rather than targeting individuals.

“This exercise is not about a witch hunt; it is about building a reliable and accountable civil service. It is a fundamental step that any good manager or leader would want to take,” Dr. Joekai said.

He reaffirmed the CSA’s commitment to supporting government institutions in developing data-driven human resource systems and fostering a culture of meritocracy.

“We cannot continue to put square pegs in round holes and round holes in square pegs,” Joekai said, underscoring what many analysts describe as a quiet revolution inside Liberia’s civil service.

You can be academically qualified but still institutionally incompetent if your values do not align”, he re-emphasized.

For her part, Hon. Florence Geegbae, Managing Director of the NHA, welcomed the initiative, and pledged her entity full cooperation.

“When we took over, we saw serious lapses,” Hon. Geebae disclosed. personnel redocumentation and capacity needs assessment were unavoidable.”

The NHA Managing Director confirmed that the verification exercise will be synchronized with; reclassification, capacity needs assessment and staff development planning.

The credential verification program is part of the Government of Liberia’s broader agenda to build a transparent, efficient, and productive civil service capable of delivering quality services to citizens. CSA teams are conducting: physical verification of staff, biometric photography, cross-checking employment records with CSA databases, academic and professional credential authentication; others are payroll reconciliation to detect ghost worker and personnel file audits to identify missing or altered records.