Buchanan – Veronica Brown and Thomas Badio married on Saturday, July 14. But up to press time, the couple is yet to receive their marriage certificate from the Grand Bassa County Service Center.
Something that the service center’s coordinator, Mac Willis, said is due to the failure and delay from authorities at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Monrovia to sign these documents in the stipulated time frame.
This action, Coordinator Willis notes is not only impeding the work of the center but creating serious embarrassment to staffers.
“I don’t see for any reasons why the traditional certificates should still be coming from Monrovia. We should desist from that because the superintendent is here and other local county leaders can be signatories to the certificates.”
He said, “I’m told that one of the signatories is an older man, who hardly goes to the office. We are pressurized by people; many people need the certificates for this Saturday and next Saturday. People are getting married.”
He stated, however, that in spite of the challenges, there is still influx of residents from Grand Bassa and other neighboring counties, including Rivercess and Grand Gedeh benefiting from other services provided by the service center, which is situated in the seaport city of Buchanan.
The County Service Center Coordinator recommends that authorities at the Ministry of Internal Affairs divulge some of their authorities to local government officials including the superintendent, to sign essential documents, including a traditional marriage certificate.
“What’s the essence of having the center when everything is coming from Monrovia if you say we should be decentralized? Everything should be decentralized. We should provide all services; so I am asking the government to look into the services provided at the centers.”
He continued, “I think the local government officials should be a signatory to the services, that will be easy to handle.”
He expressed his frustration that for the last two weeks, certificates that should have been ready and there for customers to pick up are yet to arrive from Monrovia, while more and more customers are trooping in for certificates.
Willis disclosed that there are fees attached to some of the services and there are also no fees for some.
“We have birth certificate for children and not adults. Adults’ certificate issuance is not yet decentralized. It is a major aspect but is not provided at the center. People are making demands, but what can we do anything,” he said.
According to him, representatives of the Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy have stopped providing services at the center and some officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issues out visa and passports had gone there on assessment but since they left have never returned nor sent word back to them.
“The services provided by these institutions should be here, too. Many people have complained that it takes a long time to get them from those offices in Monrovia. But when they are provided at the service center, it will ease the traveling from far to Monrovia,” he contended.
On the administrative structure, Willis said there are only nine females of the 51 persons adding: “All the agencies sending their staffers are only sending their male employees.”
Currently, the service center contains 13 government agencies, including the Ministries of Labor, Gender, Transport, Public Works, Health, Education, Internal Affairs, Commerce and Finance.
Others are Center for National Document and Archives (CNDRA) and Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Services (LISGIS).
Willis stated that the center doesn’t have the authority to grant a divorce but can recommend disagreeing parties to the court.
He called for more awareness to be carried out in the areas the service center is to serve in order for citizens to understand the objectives of the center.
He expressed the hope that challenges currently facing the center will be addressed soon
Citizens Extol Government
Customers, who spoke to reporters said they had to go down to Monrovia just to obtain several documents, including driver license, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.
According to them, the effort of the government to decentralize some of its activities is laudable.
Those service center customers included members of the Federation of Road Transport Union of Liberia (FRTUL), marketers and street vendors, who expressed delight that they don’t have to go to Monrovia to obtain these essential documents again.
Siaka Kamara, a driver plying the highways between Monrovia and Buchanan, said it took him and some colleagues just three days to get their processed registration documents, including diver licenses.
Kamara, who said the process of getting served is fast, noted that drivers are encouraged to take advantage of the process and used the back door, which defrauds the government of needed revenue.
The Buchanan Branch FRTUL president, John Sweegaye, stated that the process is smooth with very less stress.
Madam Fatu Sheriff, Buchanan Red-light Market Superintendent, said the County Service Center is very serviceable to them. She made reference to her secretary, Mrs. Dorothy Fahn Garkpah, whom she said obtained her marriage certificate within a few days for her wedding in early May.
Madam Garkpah stated that it is better to pay US$50 for the marriage certificate than to travel to Monrovia just to get a marriage certificate. She added: “The government did well and we are making use of the center.”
Also the head of the Center for the Blind, Robert Kpadoe, said the establishment of the service center has brought relief to the disabled people of the county.
“There are no fees charged to disabled people. There are even areas at the entrance for those of us, who are using wheels chairs,” he added.
However, the Executive Director for Grand Bassa Women Development Association (BAWODA), Martha Karnga, sees the service center differently.
“I see the County Service Center as not being disabled friendly. The first challenge is it is situated on either the third or fourth floor were most disable people are not able to access to the services because there is no elevator.
“Secondly, though the people are using the service center, but everything that should have been provided is not here so people end up going back to Monrovia to get those services.”
She narrated that even though she had registered her car at the center, the center couldn’t complete the process and had to refer her to Monrovia because of what she termed as “certain little things.”
*This report was produced by reporters, who participated in a recent gender sensitive reporting training held by UN Women. The content, however, does not necessarily reflect the views of UN Women.