The Liberian government says it has discovered over 40,000 illegal civil servants in its system.

The Director-General of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Josiah Joekai told the BBC details of the civil servants were entered incorrectly or not at all into the Personnel Action Notice (Pan).

The Pan process is a mandatory requirement for employment.

There are at least 70,000 civil servants in Liberia and more than 50% are currently illegal because they did not do the Pan process, he said.

Mr Joekai said the process comprises the full details of individuals who are entered on the government employment roster after completing evaluation and credential checks.

Mr Joekai revealed that some people were placed on the civil service payroll through text messages, telephone calls, emails and WhatsApp, between 2019 and 2023.

The CSA boss said that since these workers cannot be held responsible, they are affording them a grace period of 90 days to register properly.

Those who fail to complete the process will be fired.

President Joseph Boakai's government says it intends to reduce what it called a bloated payroll and reduce the government wage bill. It says it wants a smaller and more efficient public service.

It is not clear how the new scheme will be greeted by the Liberian population.