Liberia’s President George Manneh Weah has issued a number of guidelines for travel out of the country by officials of the executive branch of government.
The guidelines take effect as of June 1 and cover all Ministers, Director Generals, Managing Directors, Commissioners and Commissioner-Generals, Deputies and Assistants, Superintendents and City Mayors, all members of the executive branch of government.
According to the President’s directive every official must obtain Travel Authorization Letter from the office of the President before leaving the country.
In the guidelines, the President instructed the Liberia Immigration Service to ensure that all officials have in their possession a Travel Authorization Letter from the President before they can leave the
country.
The presidential directive also states that city mayors, county presidential appointees and presidential appointees of institutions of higher learning must also ensure that they obtain travel authorization letters from their supervising ministers and governing boards in consultation with the Minister of State.
Presidential appointees should provide evidence indicating the sponsors of their trips, period away from the country along with their travel request letter before leaving the country at the port of exit, the directive indicates.
It directs that as of July 1, 2019, ministries, agencies and commissions eligible to attend statutory meetings or events outside of the country are required to submit to the minister of state, schedules
of those meetings or events and any intended quarterly travel plan for approval by the President.
The directive noted that presidential appointees are entitled to one month annual leave that can be split, but the presidency remains grateful for a written pre-knowledge should that leave be spent out of the country.
For extreme emergency requests for personal and official foreign travels, authorization will be treated on a case by case basis, according to the presidential directive.
The directive explained that as Liberians are gradually experiencing the development initiatives of the Weah-led administration, it was essential that the development efforts are sustained; with all areas of Government focused on creating a better Liberia.
“This means that presidential appointees are available and on duty to give their institutions direction and effective leadership,” the directive stressed.
TSS/abj/APA