The Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD), on Thursday July 2, 2020 held a day-long dialogue with seven Senators in furtherance of its advocacy for the Senate’s concurrence on the County Social Development Fund (CSDF) Stand-Alone Bill.
The CSDF Stand-Alone Bill is An Act to Amend Section 4 of the Public Financial Management Law of Liberia to Establish a National County Social Development Fund (CSDF) which among other things, will ensure the establishment of a framework for all Social Development Funds and County Development Funds allocated in the National Budget and any other funds collected in the name and on behalf of counties – directly or indirectly – to first, be transferred or deposited into an ESCROW Account set up by each county before any fund can be expended.
The Act when passed, seeks to strengthen citizens participation in the management of resources allocated to each of the 15 counties within the National Budget framework and those remitted by concessions to promote local development. The CSDF Stand-Alone Bill has been at the Liberian Senate since March 19, 2020 upon passage into law by the House of Representative on March 10, 2020
Senators present at the dialogue included: Sen. Henry F. Tokpa (Bong County), Sen. Matthew N. Jaye (Rivergee Co.), Sen. Jonathan L. Kaipay (Grand Bassa Co.), Sen. Augustine S. Chea (Sinoe Co.), Sen. Peter S. Coleman (Grand Kru Co.), Sen. George T. Tengbeh (Lofa Co.) and Sen. Stephen J. N. Zargo (Lofa Co.)
IREDD, along with the Natural Resource Management (NRM) Coalition works with the Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI) with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is envisaged that a concurrence vote will be achieved before the Legislature’s annual break this August 2020.