Monrovia – The Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) said it has learned with dismay that the Liberian government is validating its current “pro-poor” agenda without the involvement of civil society and wants a halt to the process.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]Mr. Herald Aidoo, IREDD executive director in an interview with FrontPageAfrica Tuesday, June 26, said attempts by this government to single-handedly validate the pro-poor agenda without the involvement of ordinary Liberians is a misstep.
“We have learned with great dismay that this government is currently validating its pro-poor agenda for development. We are utterly surprised by this that a government that came to power with popular votes can go ahead the way it is going,” Aidoo said.
According to him, it is a mistake for the Congress for Democratic Change-led government to begin to validate a very important national development agenda that was not formulated and developed with the participation of the ordinary people, civil society organization and the media.
“If we say we are driving a pro-poor agenda, that agenda must be owned by all because it is about the people. We cannot start an agenda that is about the people from top to bottom,” he stated.
He called on President Weah and line ministries driving this process to halt the process and ensure a full participation of civil society, media and ordinary Liberians.
In April the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) held a week-long consultation meeting to solicit views from citizens in the diaspora on what development should be prioritized under President George Manneh Weah’s pro-poor agenda.
The meeting, which started on Monday, 23 April at the Paynesville City Hall, under the theme: “National Development Planning Sectoral Consultation Toward Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PADA)” with sub-theme: “Promoting a Participatory Development Planning Process,” will address five thematic areas including health, infrastructures, education, youth development and the economy.
The consultation brought together government officials from line Ministries and Agencies, partners, private sector, among others, under the theme; Promoting Participatory Development Planning Process.
Giving an overview of the exercise, Tanneh Brunson, Deputy Finance Minister for Budget, noted that if the policy should be effected, the government should begin by ensuring greater equity at the start of the growth process, citing land rights or by decreasing inequality during the growth process, such as making low skilled jobs more readily available and thereby pushing up wages among the poor.
According to her, the objective is to obtain inputs from participants to adequately identify pro-poor activities which are directly impacting on poverty, and do not have unfavorable consequences on growth.