MONROVIA: What appears to be a widely circulated analysis comparing and contrasting the stewardships of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change and the former ruling Unity Party on critical reforms and service deliveries, and authored by the CDC, is flooding the media space in the last 24 hours.
The ruling CDC has been the one in the driving seat of the national voyage since 2018, nearly six years now, while the UP ruled the country from 2006 to 2017 (12 years).
As the campaign intensifies and debate of how both parties that have tasted state power have done, and who did well, dominates the airwaves and newspaper pages, it seems the CDC is ready to provide its side of the story in black and white—a methodical research that could make their day.
Certainly it is expected that the former ruling Unity Party will respond to the analysis. Meanwhile, what is compiled and presented via a spreadsheet by the CDC looks exceedingly plain and paralyzing.
For instance, according to the analysis, the former UP regime during its reign laid off and deprived 5,000 workers of income over the course of 12 years under its downsizing and rightsizing policy, but on the other hand the CDC says its harmonizing policy did not lay off any worker within the first 6 years of its term.
According to them, this suggests that the CDC administration has been able to maintain job stability and little or no layoffs.
Another finding, according to the CDC, unveils that during the UP’s 12-year tenure, thousands of volunteer teachers who worked for the government for all that time were not placed on the government’s payroll. But the CDC says it has placed 2,850 volunteer teachers inherited from the UP regime on the paid roll within its first 6 years.
“This indicates that the CDC has prioritized incorporating volunteer educators into the formal system, potentially improving the quality and accessibility of education,” the CDC analysis claims.
Further analysis by the CDC indicates that under the Unit Party regime, about 35,000 new public workers were added to the government payroll over 12 years, while the CDC added a comparatively paltry 3,000 workers to the payroll within the first 6 years.
The analysis shows that although the total number of additions is lower under the CDC, it is important to consider the scale of each regime’s term in order to accurately compare the rate of workforce expansion.
Regarding wages between the two political archrivals, the research shows that the highest monthly salary paid to public officials under the UP was US$25,000U, while the CDC has reduced it to US $5,600U within the first 6 years, a radical variance that apparently indicates a notable decrease in the highest salary paid to public officials under the current administration.
According to the study, the former ruling Unity Party in its second term failed to spend any money in the form of support to 3,200 health workers paid by development partners but within the first 6 years of the CDC’s rule, $72 million was spent on the salary of health workers. This, the CDC boasts, demonstrates increased government funding and commitment to supporting healthcare workers directly.
Further on the medical sector, the research opines that under the UP, medical doctors were paid US$700.00 per month, while under the CDC, doctors are being paid $2,000USD per month, representing a substantial increase in salaries for medical doctors during the CDC’s term, potentially improving the retention and morale of healthcare professionals.
On the overall civil servants wage bill, the CDC-authored research indicates that the lowest salary paid to government workers under the Unity Party was $45.00USD, whereas under the CDC, the lowest pay is $150.00USD, another evidence of an increase in the minimum salary for government workers during the CDC’s rule that potentially has improved living conditions for low-income earners.
As a further demonstration towards improvement in the compensation for higher education faculty under the current administration, the study unveiled that highest salary that the Unity Party Government paid to Master’s level instructors at public universities under the UP was $1,100, while under the CDC, it has increased to $2,000 within the first 6 years.
These data indicate various changes in government payroll and salary structures between the UP and CDC regimes.
The study contends that while the UP had a higher number of workers laid off during their tenure, the CDC has made efforts to maintain job stability. The CDC has also focused on integrating volunteer teachers into the formal system, and while they may have added fewer workers to the payroll, they have implemented salary increases for certain professions like doctors, instructors, and the lowest-paid employees.
Regarding international aid to both institutions, the research posits that development aid received by the ruling CDC between 2018 to 2022, was US$1.9 billion, and that between just 2013 and 2017, the Unity Party government received a whooping US$4 billion.
Comparing the highest domestic revenues that those two rivals raised during their terms, the UP highest was US$463.79m and US$570.03m by the CDC, showing that the ruling CDC triumphed over the UP in its domestic resource mobilization regime.
Speaking to the spread or distribution of public electricity, the CDC-produced research says during its 12 year terms, the former ruling Unity Party connected 229,890 households while the CDC as so far connected 973,590 homes. And on the cost of power consumption per month by a household, the study indicates that, on the average, Liberians are now paying US$40 under CDC compared to US$90 they were paying under the UP government.
The Analyst could not independently verify the research and its findings.
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