By Washington Tumay Watson –onewash9@gmail.com
MONROVIA-Nimba County Wee-gbeh District Commissioner, Kenech Kuoh Miapuie has appealed to the Liberian Government through the Ministry of Internal Affairs to empower local leaders, especially commissioners.
According to Commissioner Miapuie, commissioners are not respected within their areas due to the lack of empowerment.
Speaking recently during a Community Engagement and Outreach on the National Road Fund of Liberia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Engagement with Community Based Organizations (CBOs) Capacity Building Workshop in Sacleapea, Nimba County, the strong female Commissioner said most of the times, citizens do not respect their offices only because they are not fully empowered with logistics and finance.
Commissioners Miapuie further said one of the major factors that is responsible for the attitude of citizens not respecting their leaders is politics.
“Before you and myself were born, we used to see our parent’s side brushing the roads to every village, but as we speak, politics beating us, because how many days should I go on the media and tell my people to side brush their roads if I am not funding them or I’m not having the finance to empower them, it will be difficult”, she said.
She also expressed graduate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and that of the Ministry of Public Works for providing information relating to cleaning their community’s roads through side brushing as a national and patriotic duty as citizens to maintain their roads.
Commissioner Miapuie said, with the new information regarding the road, there is a need for the government to empower them for effective implementation of monitoring and ensuring that the roads are kept clean at all times.
“The CBOs, because they are getting funding from the road fund, they do not recognize my office as Commissioner, but they are my people, we will work together, but if we are not empowered, we will not be able to empower them”, she said.
She also vows to ensure that no resident within their area will take sand from the road within their communities, stressing that the community Watch Forum officers will arrest anyone who will be in such habit to undermine the road.
Commissioner Miapuie further urged the residents to voluntarily side brush their community roads and the major roads within their areas, indicating that her inspector will visit the various communities and towns with in the district.