MONROVIA – The Minister of Information Cultural & Tourism Affairs (MICAT), Jerolinmek Piah says the recent recognition exercise held by the Government of Liberia, where it held in high esteem few government ministries, agencies, commissions and state-owned enterprises for the level of work done at those institutions was purely based on critical compliance indicator.
Appearing on the radio and social media platform, “Class Reloaded”, Minister Piah addressed the concern of Liberians who did not see MACS that they expected to be recognized for their works over the period, stating “The recognition was not simply about how active or popular an institution has been in recent months. It was based on one critical compliance indicator: whether or not the institution submitted and published its Service Delivery Charter within the timeframe set.”
Commenting further the MICAT boss indicated that as far as the performance management contract is concerned there were initial steps that the Government expected everyone to take: 1. Develop a Service Delivery Charter and do it in time and 2. Publish that Service Delivery Charter. But Piah noted that those were the two major steps that those institution failed to do in the stipulated time period.
Information Minister Piah highlighted that the institutions recognized took the requirements very seriously and fulfilled that aspect which is part of phase 1 of the Performance management contract.
Following that clarification, it became clear that institutions left out of the awards were considered delinquent, not for lack of effort, but for failing to meet a mandatory governance requirement.
It can be recalled the Liberian Government on Thursday, June 12, 2025, recognized several high-performing ministries, agencies, and commissions for their operational excellence as part of the ongoing Government of Liberia (GOL) Performance Contracts initiative. The event, held at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, was attended by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and top government officials.
Among those honored were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Works, Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company, and the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). The Liberia Agriculture Regulatory Authority, Jackson F. Doe Memorial Regional Hospital, and the Ministry of National Defense topped the list as the best-performing institutions for 2025.
However, the absence of several key government entities, including the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), Civil Service Agency (CSA), Ministry of Education and the National Transit Authority (NTA), raised eyebrows and public speculation. Some observers questioned why certain institutions, believed to be performing well, were left off the recognition list.
It was based on these public concerns that Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah, appeared on the “Class Reloaded” radio program and addressed the concerns directly, to dispel public notion that those who were left out despite being seen in the public glare of doing good jobs were left out for reasons they could not understand.
A Service Charter is an official document issued by a public institution that outlines the services it provides, the standards and timelines for those services, and the rights and expectations of the public it serves. It is a public commitment to transparency, efficiency, and accountability — providing citizens with a clear understanding of what they are entitled to and how to hold institutions responsible when services fall short.
In the context of governance, a Service Charter is vital because it shifts public service from being opaque and bureaucratic to transparent and citizen-centered. It allows government entities to be measured not just by internal reports or political narratives, but by publicly declared standards that the people can monitor.
By enforcing the submission and publication of these charters, the Boakai administration is attempting to institutionalize a culture of responsiveness, clarity, and trust between citizens and government agencies.
Now that Minister Piah provided the clarity is now left the public to judge for themselves what has been provided by the MICAT boss regarding the awards exercise.
