Liberian gov’t officials on study tour

A delegation of nine officials from Liberia is in the country to share knowledge on the implementation process of the decentralisation policy.The team has visited various public parastatals and ministries they were briefed on their operations.Yesterday, the team visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources where they were briefed about the ministry’s structures and implementation of programmes. Addressing the delegation, the Director of General, Planning and Programme Coordination, Raphael Rurangwa, highlighted the mechanisms the ministry has put in place to achieve its targets.“In addition to Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) and the National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB), we also have provincial, district and sector administration down to the cell level through which we interact with farmers,” Rurangwa told the Liberians. He explained that although each level has different tasks and obligations, they all contribute to a general objective; implementing national agriculture programmes to increase production and food security.In an interview with The New Times, the head of the delegation, Tiah J. Nagbe, who is the Deputy Minister in charge of Research and Development Planning in the Liberian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that their visit was aimed at getting ideas that will help them implement the decentralization policy.“Rwanda has moved a great step in implementing the decentralisation policy and we believe that we can learn from this experience since we are just at the initial stages of implementing the policy,” Nagbe said.He also commended the performance contract initiative (Imihigo).The delegation, which arrived in the country on Tuesday, is expected to wind up the working visit on Sunday.