Praises Ministry and Calls for Additional Support for Governmental Goals
Monrovia, Liberia – Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung has urged the Ministry of Finance to step up its assistance for President Joseph Boakai’s reform plan while praising the ministry for its vital role in overseeing the government’s financial operations. During a working visit to the Ministry of Finance, Vice President Koung made the comments, praising the organization for its hard job and recognizing its role in making sure that government salaries and other financial commitments are met on time.
He said that the Ministry of Finance is one of the government’s most overburdened organizations, pointing out that its ministers, technical personnel, and other workers are in charge of vital tasks that keep the government functioning. The VP Koung praised the ministry for paying government salaries on a regular basis, characterizing this as a sign of the volume of work the organization is doing.
He said, “The Ministry of Finance is one of the most overloaded ministries. All the ministers here, deputy and assistant ministers, including the technicians, we know the kind of work you do. So I want to thank you.”
Although he acknowledged that paying salaries on time is a crucial duty, he emphasized that the government still has a lot of work to do. “The issues of salaries are now very regular. So that’s how much work you are doing, but we need to do more because there is a lot of work to do in the country,” he added.
VP Koung encouraged the Finance Ministry to keep backing the administration’s initiatives to reorganize the nation’s public sector and improve the provision of public services. He noted that the administration’s first years in power were devoted to stabilizing and saving the nation, citing President Joseph Boakai’s call for national restructuring. Koung stated, “President Boakai always said the country needs restructuring; the first three years were to rescue the country.”
He urged the ministry to take a more active role in promoting programs that help small businesses, raise wages, and solve problems in the transportation industry. The vice president claims that in order to accomplish the administration’s larger development goals, these areas need coordinated government action and sufficient financial support.
As the government steps up measures to battle illegal narcotics, the vice president also requested more funding for the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA). He stated that sufficient funding for the organizations in charge of upholding drug laws and safeguarding communities is necessary to improve the nation’s response to the drug epidemic. The call coincides with the administration’s efforts to increase the capabilities of the national security and law enforcement agencies engaged in the battle against illegal drug trafficking and abuse.
Augustine K. Ngafuan, finance minister, expressed gratitude to Vise President Koung for coming to the ministry and for his ongoing assistance at the Cabinet level. In order to support the government’s aims and guarantee the prompt execution of its projects, Minister Ngafuan promised that the Finance Ministry will keep up its efforts.
He emphasized the necessity of coordinating the ministry’s numerous financial and technical duties, comparing his position as finance minister to that of a choir director. “My job as Minister of Finance is like a choir director,” Ngafuan said.
He expressed gratitude to the vice president for the ministry’s cooperation, especially when officials submit plans and programs for cabinet approval. “We express our gratitude to you, Mr. Vice President, for all of the cabinet-level support you have provided.” According to Ngafuan, “we require assistance for some of the tasks we accomplish.”
He clarified that the ministry occasionally submits its plans and programs to the vice president in order to gain his support before presenting them to the cabinet. The Finance Minister said, “We occasionally pass some of our programs and plans to get his buy-in, so when we go to the cabinet, he supports us hugely.”
