‘Liberian Lawmaker identifies problems affecting Africa’s infrastructure development’ (Abuja, June 20 2013) The Chairperson of the Liberian Senate Committee on the Executive, Senator Clarice Jah, has identified the discontinuity in the implementation of development programs as a major problem affecting infrastructure development and the provision of social services in Africa. Speaking Tuesday, June 18, 2013, on behalf of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the International Conference on ‘Emerging Democracies in Africa-Challenges and Opportunities’ in Abuja, Nigeria, Senator Jah observed that African leaders do not continue with the development programs started by their predecessors. Speaking on the topic ‘Effective Governance: Delivering on Infrastructure and Social Services’, the Senator also said dependence on donor funding was one of the fundamental constraints to infrastructuredevelopment in Africa. “If we depend on others to fund our programs, they in most cases have leverage on how the money is used and if your priority does not meet their interest, they will inevitably stall your development program” said Senator Jah. According to the Senator, the results can be seen across Africa where manyprojects continue to suffer from lack of reliable power supply and industrial processing, goods cannot get to markets because of bad roads and millions of lives are threatened everyday by the lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation. Using Liberia as a case study, Senator Jah observed that the devastating effects of fourteen years of civil strife can still be seen in the damaged infrastructurebeing rebuilt by the Government of Liberia and the high demand for social services. In these respects, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf led government is transforming Liberia through the implementation of a sound economic policy which is translating into economic growth, infrastructure development and the provision of basic social services, she emphasized. Senator Jah noted that policy reforms in Liberia are also translating into the restoration of the rule of law and the protection of the inalienable rights of citizens. “Today the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf led government has transformed Liberia beyond expectation. Efforts are not only being taken to get the necessary reforms and policies right, as well as the initiation of physical reconstruction of basic and productive infrastructure but also the restoration of the rule of law and particularly the inalienable rights of all citizens” she explained. Looking at efforts to make governance work in other African countries, the Liberian lawmaker highlighted gains being made in Ghana, Botswana and Rwanda noting that they are ‘gradually downgrading bad governance and vigorously upgrading effective governance’. Senator Jah said while the pace of delivering effective governance, infrastructure development and provision of social services remains slow across Africa, she was confident that the Continent would achieve its full potential in the next two decades. She urged African leaders to engage in knowledge sharing and capacity building to keep the development of the continent on track. Also addressing the conference, the former President of Ghana His Excellency Flight Lieutenant John Jerry Rawlings said emerging democracies, including most African Countries, are grappling with problems of incoherent constitutions and weak institutions thus allowing some political leaders to abuse the system. Addressing the conference theme, Mr. Rawlings identified the primary challenge of emerging democracies in Africa as the inherent flaws in their application of Western democracy and the lack of encouragement of a system of democracy that is dynamic, home grown and imbued with the socio-cultural backgrounds of individual African states. The former Ghanaian leader also criticized African civil society organizations which ‘instead of exposing ills in government, and society and offering concrete options on the way forward, metamorphose into partisan political entities attacking or overprotecting government as if their survival depended on it’. He stressed that the average African is in dire need of a working democracy that truly protects and guarantees a progressive and development oriented political system that defends freedom, guarantees justice and ensures that society remains disciplined. Mr. Rawlings was confident that when democratic structures are instituted in a manner that recognizes the socio-cultural and socio-political context of individual countries, it will have a better chance of survival and success. Presentations were also made on several other topics including Managing Conflict and Development, Reversing Youth Unemployment and Violence in Africa as well as Legislative/Executive Relations. Organized by the National Institute for Legislative Studies in collaboration with the European Parliamentarians with Africa, the two day international conference on Emerging Democracies brought together lawmakers from across Africa including the Speaker of the House Representatives of Liberia, Honorable Alex Tyler.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 12:35:09 +0000
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