A probe into allegations of solicitation of bribes in exchange for jobs at Arcelor Mittal Liberia is alarming and warrants serious attention.
By Thomas Domah, Nimba County
Sanniquellie, Nimba County, Liberia, February 29, 2024– Police in Sanniquellie, Nimba County are interrogating two senior employees of mining company ArcelorMittal Liberia, for their alleged involvement in bribery and fraud.
The suspects work in the Human Resources Office (HR) of the company.
They allegedly solicited huge amount of money from jobs seekers with a promise to have them employed.
The Suspects are identified as Cyrus Yini of Yekepa, Nimba County and and Johnny Ndorbor of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, respectively.
Some of their victims told The NEW DAWN Nimba Correspondent that the suspects requested them to transfer payments for jobs via their mobile money accounts.They claimed to have been allegedly charged US$500 each for employment.
According to them, getting employment with the company presently is difficult, as cash inducements have taken precedent over qualification at the entity, with unqualified people being hired, while qualified candidates, who lack money, are left waiting in frustrations.
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They further revealed that based on such alleged practice, the HR Office prioritizes Guineans and other foreign nationals for employment, while Liberians suffer.
This paper gathered that most of the drivers being hired are Guineans, who allegedly paid huge amount of money to gain their employment, mainly in Yekepa.
Meanwhile, Police have written the Eight Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie through the County Attorney to officially request the managements of GSM companies operating here, Orange Liberia and Lonestar Cell MTN, to provide call logs of the two suspects to help with the ongoing investigation by ascertaining whether they did receive mobile money transactions from their victims, as alleged.
However, AML communication department denies that the company, as a policy, requests for or accepts bribes in exchange for employment.
Any prospective employee is strictly required to seek the company’s recruitment procedures for employment, Management explained and notes that there are Zero tolerance on bribery and fraud. Editing by Jonathan Browne
