MONROVIA – A coalition of leading Liberian civil society organizations has firmly rejected a proposed bill seeking to amend the Local Government Act (LGA) of 2018, warning that the move could dismantle grassroots governance and return county development control to lawmakers, a system previously plagued by corruption and political interference.
At a press conference held Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the Sinkor offices of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), four prominent advocacy institutions, CENTAL, Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, the Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), and the Center for Democratic Governance (CDG), issued a strongly worded joint statement opposing the proposed amendment.
The bill, introduced by Grand Gedeh County District #1 Representative Jeremiah Sokan, seeks to amend Sections 2.2 (e) and (f) of the Local Government Act. These provisions empower County Councils to approve county development plans and budgets, an authority the lawmaker argues infringes on legislative oversight. The bill has been forwarded to several House committees for review.
Reading the joint statement, CENTAL Executive Director Anderson Miamen asserted that the proposed changes are not only legally unfounded but risk reversing key gains made toward decentralizing power and ensuring inclusive governance. He stressed that the LGA is a landmark piece of legislation meant to empower local communities, not legislators.
“Liberia’s governance has long been overly centralized, depriving ordinary citizens of influence over decisions that directly affect their lives,” Miamen said. “The Local Government Act sought to change that by empowering County Councils to represent diverse community voices, including women, youth, people with disabilities, and civil society actors.”
The civil society organizations explained that, while the LGA was passed in 2018 under President George Weah’s administration, meaningful steps to implement it only began in 2023. They attributed the delay to weak political will and warned that further interference now could derail the entire decentralization agenda.
The CSOs emphasized that the powers granted to County Councils do not override legislative oversight. In fact, they argued, all funding for county projects comes from national budgets already debated and passed by the Legislature. Therefore, claims of conflicting oversight roles are misleading.
“How can the Legislature argue that it lacks oversight when all County Council funds are already contained in the national budget it approves?” Miamen asked rhetorically. “Should lawmakers also demand to approve every individual expenditure from all budget lines across government?”
They also questioned the rationale of reinstating legislative caucuses at the center of county development planning. Past experience, the groups noted, shows that caucus-led development led to incomplete and politically motivated projects, often serving lawmakers’ interests at the expense of communities.
According to the statement, there is “no evidence” that County Legislative Caucuses are more qualified than County Councils to approve budgets or development plans. On the contrary, legislative interference has historically bred corruption and waste in the allocation of County Social Development Funds (CSDF).
The organizations argued that the real motivation behind the amendment is to restore financial control to lawmakers at the county level, a move they describe as regressive and undemocratic. They pointed out that legislative caucuses are not constitutional bodies of decision-making but informal associations of lawmakers with common interests.
“Legislative authority resides in the Legislature assembled, not in caucuses,” the statement read.“These groups may advocate, but they have no legal basis to manage local governance or budgets.”
The CSOs also rejected claims that County Council members are unqualified due to a lack of formal education. They said that such reasoning is both elitist and hypocritical, especially given the minimal educational requirements for legislators themselves.
Furthermore, the LGA accounts for potential capacity issues by establishing Support Offices for County Councils, including administrative and legal personnel to assist council members with technical matters.
From a gender perspective, the coalition warned that removing County Councils from development oversight would erase years of progress in women’s inclusion. Under the current law, women are guaranteed representation in County Councils, aligning with Liberia’s national and international gender equality commitments.
“The County Council is one of the few formal platforms where rural women have a guaranteed voice,” said Esther Yango of WONGOSOL. “To strip away that voice is to undermine both our democracy and gender justice.”
While the groups admitted that County Councils are not without flaws, they insisted that reforms should focus on strengthening them, not replacing them with historically ineffective legislative control. They advocated for robust civic education, internal accountability mechanisms, and citizen oversight to hold council members to higher standards.
The organizations also called on the Legislature to fulfill its responsibilities under the LGA, including setting honorarium ceilings for council members and ensuring that civil servants are deployed to support council operations.
They criticized the Civil Service Agency and other relevant institutions for failing to assign support staff in many counties, leaving Council operations under-resourced and vulnerable to administrative challenges.
“Instead of weakening the County Councils, we should be investing in their capacity, transparency, and independence,” said George Sagbeh of CDG. “Legislative oversight must not become legislative overreach.”
CENTAL’s Miamen concluded the press conference with a strong appeal to all Liberians, especially rural citizens, to resist any attempt to reverse decentralization. He said the solution lies in full implementation of the LGA, not amendments that could reintroduce centralized, politicized control of local development.
“Decentralization is not a favor, it is a right,” Miamen said. “Rolling back the Local Government Act would render it meaningless and betray the communities it was designed to empower.”
The CSOs urged the House of Representatives to immediately withdraw the bill and redirect its efforts toward supporting full implementation of the LGA. They also called on donors, international partners, and civic groups to stand united against the attempt to weaken local government structures.
“Liberia’s future lies in strengthening democracy from the ground up,” the joint statement concluded. “That future cannot be built by returning to the failed practices of legislative dominance over local development.”
