The Integrity Watch Liberia in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and United Nations Women has ended a one-day stakeholders’ forum on the status of decentralization implementation of the local government act in Monrovia.
Speaking at the beginning of the forum, the Executive Director of Integrity watch Liberia, Harold Aidoo, stressed the need for civil society organizations and the government to regularly access the level of the implementation of the local government act.
He said this is essential because there is no other way for the government and its international allies to abandon their plans to grant power to those living outside Monrovia.
“This discussion comes at the tail end of the need to know where we are as a nation in terms of implementing our national decentralization program. You may be aware that we reached a milestone on the decentralization program when the President signed the local government act into law in 2018. The income sharing program was also enacted into law this year in accordance with the local government act, establishing the legal foundation for fiscal decentralization.”
The government, working with foreign partners, has had a substantial impact on the execution of the decentralization of the local government act, according to Emmanuel Wheinyue, Technical Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs. He said that as part of the implementation, the government had started distributing social and development funds to the counties and districts so that rural residents could choose the projects they wanted in their communities.
He said that it was followed by the establishment of service centers in the 15 sub-political divisions’ capitals and the introduction of a revenue-sharing program.
Nikolina Stalhand, a program officer at the Swedish Embassy close to Monrovia, applauded the efforts made by the Liberian government and civil society organizations to move forward with plans to decentralize government. She claimed that it is a positive step since it will open up opportunities for growth in Liberia’s rural areas. The Local Empowerment for Government Inclusion and Transparency’s Deputy Chief of Party, Francis Kenpeh, promised the CSOs that his groups will fully cooperate with the government’s decentralization plan.
Participants at the forum included rural residents, international partners, civil society organizations, and foreign missions, among others.
Reported by: Augustine Octavius
Contact: +231777463963
Email: augustineoctavius@gmail.com
