Kakata – In an effort to broaden the understanding of local government officers on the new Local Government Law of Liberia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs Monday, July 22, began the conduct of the first in series of nationwide training in Kakata, Margibi County.
The two-day training which is being held under the theme: “Understanding the Local Government Act of 2018” has brought together more than 100 local government officers from Rivercess, Grand Bassa, Bomi, Bong and Margibi Counties.
The participants included County Development and Fiscal Affairs superintendents, Statutory and Administrative Districts Superintendents, City Mayors, County Inspectors, District and Township Commissioners, as well as Paramount Chiefs.
Olayee S. Collins, Deputy Minister for Research, Development, and Planning of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said research has proven that decentralized countries develop faster than countries that are centralized.
“Since Liberia’s independence, we have operated a highly centralized form of government. The hub of every decision has been in Monrovia,” Collins said.
He said centralized system slows development, adding that under such form of government, it is difficult to achieve rapid developments.
The Deputy Internal Affairs Minister, giving the overview of the training, disclosed that the Government after several study tours in other countries, in 2012 launched the national policy on decentralization and local government.
“In that policy, it was stated that Liberia should transition from a centralized form of government to a decentralized form of government. In other words, we should at the county level established sub government frameworks to be responsible for administrative, fiscal and social affairs in every county of Liberia,” he said.
He disclosed that the Governance Commission and the MIA have been collaboratively working to advance the decentralization policy.
Minister Collins explained that in order to further advance and sustained the government’s decentralization agenda, the government established service centers in all 15 counties of Liberia to make easy provision of services to the people.
He, however, expressed optimism that the Local Government Law will decentralize the country.
For his part, Honorable Emmett Reeves, Deputy Minister for Operations, said the training on the Local Government Law will further widen the understanding of local government officers of Liberia on their functions and limitation.
The Local Government Act of 2018 passed into law in September 2018, provides equal opportunity for all of its citizens to engage in the governance through the devolution of certain administrative, fiscal and political powers and institutions from the national government to local governments.