Senate Accepts Minister Kruah's Two-Week Request to Justify the Issuance of 8,000 Work Permits to Foreigners or Face Contempt Charges
Monrovia, Liberia: The Liberian Senate has granted Labor Minister Cllr. Cooper Kruah a two-week ultimatum to provide a detailed justification for the issuance of over 8,000 work permits to foreign nationals before the full Plenary of the Senate.
The Senate granted Minister Kruah a two-week ultimatum with a stern warning that failure to comply within the stipulated timeframe would trigger contempt charges as allowed by legislative practice.
The ultimatum, which will expire on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, was requested by Minister Kruah and agreed upon during the Senate’s meeting on Monday, May 19, 2025, following extensive deliberation on the unexplained increase in foreigners’ participation in the labor market in job categories reserved for Liberians.
Presiding over the plenary, Senate Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence mandated the Senate’s secretary to formalize the decision through a written notification, making clear the Senate’s expectation that Minister Kruah would present a comprehensive report on the issuance of work permits to foreign nationals.
The Senate's expectation is that Minister Kruah would provide the identity of companies involved, job classifications granted, the legal basis for the permits issued, and evidence of compliance with the national labor standards designed to protect Liberian employment interests.
"The issuance of work permits to non-Liberians for jobs that Liberians are capable of doing is not only unfair but a violation of the spirit of our concession agreements," Pro Tempore Karnga-Lawrence emphasized. "This will not be tolerated by the 55th Senate," she emphasized.
The controversy was stirred up after multiple failed attempts by the Senate to obtain a substantive response from Minister Kruah on previous inquiries into foreign employment trends, which prompted Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon to file a motion that compelled the minister to appear before plenary or face the consequences.
Senator Dillon characterized the unchecked issuance of work permits to foreign nationals for routine or semi-skilled jobs as a calculated economic offense against Liberian workers, asserting that the practice directly contradicts the goals of employment localization and undermines the very legislative instrument that prioritizes the hiring of Liberians.
The Senate also demands that Minister Kruah's appearance on June 3, 2025, be accompanied by verifiable statistics and job category breakdowns, with specific attention to whether any of the work permits granted violate local content provisions or bypass oversight mechanisms that require inter-agency collaboration and vetting.
"The continued issuance of work permits to foreign nationals for basic jobs is undermining the livelihood of our people," Senator Dillon stated.
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