LIBERIA: IREDD Rates Government 13% On Its 100 Days Of Deliverables

The Institute of Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) has released its status report on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s first 100 days in office grading the government 13%.
IREDD says the government of Liberia targeted 109 interventions drawn from 11 objectives to deliver 100 days initiatives to set the tone for the forward movement of the country under the theme: “Let’s ARREST the decline and build Liberia”.
Out of the 109 interventions, IREDD says it assessed 57 areas of interventions involving Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Post and Telecommunication, Liberia Telecommunication Corporation, Liberia Telecommunication authority, Maritime Authority, National Road Fund, National Transit Authority, Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment, Liberia Airport Authority, LCAA, National Disaster Management Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Identification Agency and the National Port Authority.
Addressing a news conference in Monrovia, Mr. Saryee reading the institute report said that overall the government of Liberia scored 13% out of the 57 interventions assessed.
He started with the Ministry of Public Works, saying, the Ministry of the
11 interventions, Public Works made considerable efforts by ensuring the resumption of vehicular movement in most part of the country including the southeast though there still remains daunting challenges along the Salayea – Voinjama; Voinjama – Foya – Mendikorma; Greenville – Barclayville; Cestos Junction – Greenville; Barclayville – Pleebo; and Zwedru – Putuken corridors. The government has got a score of 44%
He said the Ministry of Transport announced four interventions targeted to be delivered by the Ministry of Transport.
“Our team made contacts with the Ministry authorities who confirmed they met all their deliverables but could not provide any information on account that they have not been authorized by the Minister proper,”.
“However, our online and media monitoring revealed that the ministry had some unsuccessful attempts to recover vehicles from some previous government officials but failed. We were unable to verify if any of the deliverables were done. The score therefore is 0%,” he announced.
The Ministry of Post & Telecommunication
IREDD has revealed that of the 1 intervention and 2 specific actions promised, the Forensic Cyber Lab which is being done at the Police Academy compound is still in progress.
The e-Liberia centralized GoL portal for easy access to all government of Liberia services is done and pending official launch, he said.
“Our team obtained and tested the link, and it works. We have therefore given the Ministry a score of 50% “
The Liberia Telecommunication Corporation (LTC) was also placed in the failing category as the head of the IREDD read the statement from the institute.
He said the LTC top management told IREDD these deliverables have been met but they failed to give IREDD team any substantial evidence that these deliverables were met.
“We made multiple calls and visits, but nothing was shown to prove these deliverables were met. Hence, out of the 4 commitments, no information was provided up to reporting time. The score is 0%’l
For the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), there were five targets promised under this sector. Dan disclosed that every effort made by his team to obtain information on deliverables promised by the LTA proved unsuccessful despite repeated calls to senior managers at the entity.
However, for the most part of the 100 days, the LTA was conflicted with a transitional crisis which most likely may have affected its ability to deliver.
“Up to the release of this report, we got no information from the LTA. The score is therefore 0%,”
The Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) is another institution that delivers during the period under discussion, IREDD says their research reveals that the 4 commitments promised under the 100 days are in progress and pending completion.
The review of the Act has been done and pending approval from headquarters in Virginia, USA; validation of the National Maritime Strategy was done and pending final approval; and the internal financial reconciliation process is ongoing.
LIMA also scored 37.5 according to IREDD’s report.
National Transit Authority
Except for the purchase of 30,000 gallons and the recalibration of the storage tank, the two other promises under this sector are still in progress. Meanwhile, our researchers revealed that the purchase of assorted spare parts for additional buses, PPCC requirements certified, and vendor identified, and contract agreement signed and parts pending spot inspection in India. Our team also observes that the promise to construct a corporate headquarters is overly ambitious and unattainable within the 100 days. The score is 37.5%
National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA)
While the NDMA achieved the goal of increased budgetary allocation which signifies strong political will as promised under the 100 days, the study revealed no evidence of the revision of existing frameworks including DRR Plan, staff capacity building and the establishment of the Trust Fund. They got 25%
National Road Fund
Of the 3 interventions promised, the NRF made significant progress towards the revision and development of administrative procedures, the creation of synergy for transparent accounting of imports and funds generated and the establishment of a functional M&E program at the storage and lifting facilities. All the deliverables promised under this sector are ongoing according to our study. They got 50%
Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment
We made multiple visits and phone calls to the offices of the LACE but they provided no information as promised. We were therefore unable to verify if the LACE delivers on any of the 4 commitments under the 100 days. They therefore got 0%
Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) is among the institutions that scored higher grades during the period under review with the institution scoring the grade of 75%.
The LAA capability to address the risk of fire disaster has been upgraded with the purchase of a new fire truck – augmenting the LAA firefighting capacity to three trucks.
“Our research reveals the new truck was acquired with all associated equipment,” the head of IREDD noted.
Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA)
The Board of Directors has been constituted and the Director General appointed by President Boakai.
A Corrective Action Plan is said to be developed but pending internal certification.
Mr. Sayea said the management of LCAA confirmed IREDD’s findings that 3 out of the 5 commitments are in active progress and nearing completion, as the LCAA is being graded 30%
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also failed massively, obtaining 0% as its own score.
IREDD said they made tireless efforts through written communication, staff visitations and phone calls for three weeks to senior Ministers of the Ministry to balance its findings but to no avail.
“However, findings show that the Ministry has done nothing substantial to meet its stated objectives with County Centers as promised to do in all 15 counties,”.
He said, “As at the date of this release, we got no information from the ministry in relation to the gains made on their deliverables, hence, the ministry got 0% score,” Dan disclosed.
National identification Registry
IREDD said of the 3 commitments, researchers gathered that the NIR has launched and developed the Comprehensive Mass Enrollment of Citizens and Foreign Residents into the National Biometric Identification System.
“However, our research revealed that the objective of enrolling all citizens and foreign residents in 100 days was overly ambitious and unattainable,”
The IREDD boss said as for the two other interventions, “We determined that the commitments were a mismatch of the NIR functions, responsibilities and unrelated to the statutory function of the registry. For the effort so far, we gave them a score of 50%
For the National Port Authority, IREDD researchers agree it is important to know the land coverage of the NPA, he said the selection of conducting land survey at this time constituted an act of lack of vision.
The NPA is the economic gateway to the country, “so we opined that the 100 days deliverable was an opportunity to relieve businesses and importers the stress of unrealistic charges and duties incurred through port transactions on CTN, AMP and other user services.
The NPA intervention for the 100 days was sadly a missed priority and did not align with object 2 which seeks to address major economic challenges facing the population. We therefore gave them a score of 0% for lack of vision, he said. The NPA got 0%
The Integrity and Audit
He said Well intended efforts but weak organizational structure, faulty planning and amateur executional approach demoralized the worthy fight against corruption thus creating a letdown atmosphere among interested stakeholders.
Dan said the President took bold steps to be the first to declare assets, Constituted an Asset Recovery Task Force, named the Ombudsman, called for an audit of all agencies including the Ministry of State but many public officials remain shockingly lukewarm to follow the good examples of the president.
The study revealed the GAC has begun 84 audits and are ongoing. The Asset Recovery team, which many anticipated would have been the forerunner of the fight, started on a dis-organizational footing and is even in disarray.
Up to the release of this report, our researchers obtained no indication of any hotline to report corruption, and there is no office of government that has signed any integrity pledge. This sector got 40%