GoL Launches National LPA Scheme for Civil Servants

As part of efforts to provide an enabling environment for employees, the government through the Civil Service Agency (CSA) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning with support from the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), has launched what it calls “Legal Power Attorney” scheme in the country to empower the over 70,000 staff.  

LPA, as popularly known before the war, was the means through which civil servants go to the shopping centers, mainly stores to get items of their choice on credit to be paid at the end of the month through deduction from their salaries.

It is a concept created by businesses to serve the needs of low and middle income earners in order to better their living conditions.

Under the concept, the LPA scheme will allow Civil Servants to purchase essential items on credit and pay through soft and monthly payroll deductions. 

The launch, which took place on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at the CSA Conference Hall, was attended by several government officials including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee Maxwell Saah Kemeyah, and Accountant General of Liberia Janga A. Kowo. Others were representatives of Sethi Brothers, GT Bank and Ecobank Liberia Limited, respectively. 

Speaking at the official launch of the program, Liberia Revenue Authority Commissioner-General, Thomas Doe Nah,  stated that the LPA program will provide the opportunity for employees to get access to essential products that provide them a better living condition. 

"If you employ somebody and that person works for some money, that means the person has the right to build a house, a right to television and other basic commodities that are cardinal to their livelihood without having to make a huge sum of money," Nah said while giving a background of the LPA scheme.

He disclosed that the LRA has established a LPA system for its employees intended to provide a better living condition for them which, according to him, helps in the fight against corruption, adding, “When in leadership we should love our people, work for our people and not ourselves.”

The LRA Commissioner-General called on Liberians to introduce positive things that will impact the lives of their compatriots for the growth and development of the country, noting that the LPA system is working for me at the LRA and so it can work for you as well. 

Nah indicated that the LPA business strategy is part of the Pro-Poor Agenda because it helps to move people from poverty to prosperity, citing that the program is a global initiative that can be found in many countries around the world. 

The Pro-Poor Agenda is about action, he added.  

Also speaking, Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel D. Tweah, lauded the CSA Director General James Thompson, LRA and team for their dedicated hard-work to launch this program.

According to him, the government is open to working with financial institutions in the country to turn “Our economy around and move up to the highest level of economic growth. That is the partnership we bring to this process by Dr. George Manneh Weah.”  

Minister Tweah said the scheme is the fulcrum of the PAPD and will ensure employees’ well-being, while also increasing productivity and efficiency.

The initiative, he said, is also a part of efforts aimed at easing challenges to employees accessing credit for construction and other purposes.

“I have no doubt that this scheme is probably going to be the biggest game changer in the Liberia economy.      We are very excited. This is great, but the burden lies on all of us, the government, banks and the consumers,” he said. 

However, Guaranty Trust Bank Managing Director, Ikenna Anekwe, and Ecobank Executive Director for Operations and Technology, David K. Thompson, all in one accord, said the initiative will lead to growth for the economy. They assured the government of the bank’s support to the PAPD. 

Meanwhile, the launch of the national LPA scheme for Civil Servants was also witnessed by a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the government, Guaranty Trust Bank Liberia Limited and Ecobank to initialize a credit-loan scheme for employees.