By Amos Harris
The Ministry of Local Government, in collaboration with the Governance Commission, is set to convene a two-day High-Level Policy Dialogue on Local Governance and Decentralization from Wednesday to Thursday, August 26–27, 2026, at the JNB Conference Hall of the Ministry of Local Government in Monrovia.
The high-level meeting will assemble heads of key Ministries, Agencies, and Commissions (MACs), alongside County Superintendents and County Service Center Coordinators from Liberia’s 15 counties. The dialogue aims to accelerate the devolution of administrative, political, and fiscal powers mandated under the Local Government Act of 2018, strengthening local governance and expanding public access to essential services nationwide.
The creation of the Ministry of Local Government in September 2025, which succeeded the former Ministry of Internal Affairs, marked a pivotal transition in Liberia’s governance reform. The ministry was established with a dedicated mandate to spearhead the national decentralization agenda. While County Service Centers have since been established across all 15 counties to process permits, licenses, and certificates locally, operational bottlenecks persist. Most notably, routine approvals remain heavily centralized in Monrovia, forcing local offices to rely on central authorities and causing delays and higher costs for citizens.
To address these challenges, the upcoming dialogue will focus on building consensus among institutional leaders regarding legal requirements for transferring powers. The meeting builds upon President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s July 4, 2025 directive on the devolution of government functions. Participating bodies—spanning finance, transport, land, environmental protection, health, and social services—will work to establish a time-bound Devolution Action Plan outlining specific sign-offs, revenue processes, and administrative authorities to be transferred to county leadership.
Expected outcomes of the two-day event include the formulation of standardized implementation timelines, immediate cost-reduction measures for public service users, and the signing of an Inter-Ministerial Devolution Resolution committing institutions to specific transfer deadlines. Additionally, the event is set to feature the official launch of a High-Level Inter-Ministerial Committee on Decentralization, to be officiated by the Vice President of Liberia, to oversee implementation and resolve inter-agency friction.
The first day will cover technical presentations on the Local Government Act of 2018 and break-out planning sessions to map agency-specific functions for transfer. The dialogue will conclude on the second day with an executive plenary session where agency heads will finalize and sign the Joint Devolution Resolution, marking a decisive step toward bringing government authority closer to all Liberians.
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