The authorities in Guinea say they have removed 5,125 civil servants from the public service roster as part of an ongoing clean up of the payroll scheme.
Most of those affected were dismissed for abandoning their posts, while others exceeded the legally permitted duration of unpaid leave.
4,906 were dismissed for job abandonment and 219 were ommitted for being on leave beyond the maximum five-year period allowed by law.
These pruning measures are sanctioned by a series of ministerial decrees signed on June 18 by Minister of Public Service and Administrative Modernization Faya François Bourouno.
The large-scale operation forms part of a broader government initiative launched several months ago to streamline the civil service database and reduce payroll irregularities.
The main decree lists an initial 3,061 dismissals for job abandonment, affecting employees across a wide range of government institutions, including the Presidency and the ministries responsible for foreign affairs, education, health, justice, security, environment and tourism.
According to the ministry, the officials concerned had previously been placed under a three-month suspension of employment-related rights as a precautionary measure. Their failure to return to duty by the end of that period resulted in their permanent removal from the civil service.
The decrees specify, however, that the affected employees retain their pension entitlements in accordance with existing regulations.
The measure is based on provisions of the 2018 law governing public administration and the General Statute of State Employees adopted in 2019. It forms part of the government’s wider strategy to rationalise staffing levels and modernise Guinea’s public administration.
AC/lb/as/APA