William C. Allen, director general of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), reflected on his time as minister of information in Liberia’s transitional government from 2003 to 2005.Jonathan Friedman has put together a superbly-written and detailed narrative on the use of biometrics to foster efficient civil service by weeding out ghost workers. The quality of the writing shines through. The level of detail doesn't overwhelm this story of innovation which Mr. Friedman tells in a compelling way,.
“On any given day I would come into the office, I would see about 60 persons,” he recalled. “I was in my office one day and I heard this noise and a drove of people in the hallway.
I said, ‘What is going on?’
They said, ‘Today is payday.’
I went out there and I tell you I saw faces and people that I had never seen in my life. They had occupied the entire stairwell. I said, ‘Gee, if I had all these people working every day at least I could do something for this country.’ So right there I knew I had a problem.”
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