Monrovia – The Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC), through the Millennium Challenge Account Liberia on Wednesday, June 27 began drilling officials of government ministries and agencies in the energy sector on accountability through its monitoring and evaluation procedures.
Report by Willie N. Tokpah, [email protected]
According to the compact, accountability and the value for money are vital concerns of the donor and it is important to properly uphold them.
The MCC and government are currently partnering through a US$257 million grant to help improve Liberia’s economy through the enhancement of the energy and road sectors.
The event held at the Boulevard Palace Hotel in Monrovia aimed at explaining how Liberians can shoulder the responsibility of checkmating the proper expenditure of MCC funds.
Victor Steward, a participant, pointed out that work carried out in Liberia do not impact communities, a problem that needs to be mitigated since it has the tendency of creating a negative effect.
Speaking during the start of the training, Millennium Challenge Account Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tshaka Dennis said monitoring and evaluation are cardinal components of assessing government’s advancement on the usage of grants and ensuring that its interventions are successful.
“Transparency and accountability and the value for money remain the epicenter of concern of the program,” Dennis said.
This, according to him, has prompted the MCC to train partners in strategic government lines ministries and agencies to help ensure accountability.
Mr. Dennis urged participants at the forum to take keen interest in the discussion which he viewed as a means of creating opportunities to successfully demonstrate Monitoring and Evaluation skills at their various institutions.
For his part, the Regional Country Director for the MCC, Kelvin George, noted that the US$257 grant is important for the economy and would help in alleviating poverty through a five-year project.
He said the project will improve the energy sector only if a proper monitoring and evaluation system is in place.
“The Millennium Challenge compact has to know how the money given by the US government is spent wisely and successfully, which lays wholly on M&E staffs at various government ministries and agencies. If the team works collectively, it will help produce a fruitful result for their respective entities,” George noted.
At the same time, Liberia Electricity Corporation Deputy Managing Director for Operation, Joseph Howe says monitoring and evaluation cannot be overemphasized especially at a crucial stage when the pro-poor government intends to provide reliable and affordable energy.
Howe added that the training is important for his institution to improve on its monitoring and evaluation of early response from the public, relative to effective service delivery in Liberia.
Giving an overview of the project, Millennium Challenge Account-Liberia Monitoring and Evaluation Director Nicholas Dikenah encouraged participants to adhere to procedures and processes of MCA’s plan.
According to him, an attempt to not adhere to procedures outlined in the plan may create a condition for funds to come under serious screening and may lead to suspension of the compact.
It is critical and has prompted the need for training in the areas of Monitoring, Evaluation and capacity building, he said.
“The training focusses on how MCC want monitoring and evaluation to be handled in line with the compact. It entails how reports are done in line with the justification of material evidence in line with the MCC,” he said.
“The result base is specifically centered on the impact of projects and how well expenditure was made in creating changes on the livelihood of Liberians”.
Though the training is about accountability of the grant, Dikenah noted that the compact is about Liberians; therefore it is incumbent upon staffs at public entities to produce a fruitful result.