MONROVIA – NAYMOTE, Partners for Democratic Development, with funding from SIDA, from April 15-25, 2024 commissioned a rapid assessment of the organizational capacity of Five County Service Centers (CSCs) as well as soliciting the perception of end-users of the quality of services they received from the CSCs.
The assessment was conducted in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Margibi, and Grand Bassa counties for a period of two weeks, April 15–25, 2024. Five county coordinators of the CSCs were interviewed on the institutional and operational capacity of the CSCs, while questionnaires were developed for three hundred and one respondents (the sample is broken down in the methodology) to solicit their feedback on the quality of services accessed at the CSCs.
The outcome of the assessment of the county service centers shows that CSCs are highly relevant to citizens in rural parts of the country, with 86% of respondents reporting contact with the centers in the past year. Despite the drawbacks of some services at the CSCs, with service centers offering an average of 13 out of 21 services, the assessment shows that some services, once exclusively obtained in Monrovia, are being accessed at the county level, thereby reducing transportation costs to travel to Monrovia to access services and lowering the physical risk of traveling long distances by road. 65.12% of the respondents (end-users) say that they have not given bribes or gifts to obtain a service at the CSCs, which makes the CSCs less burdensome to access services.
According to the NAYMOTE report as far as Operational Capacity is concerned, there is a common trend of the challenges facing the CSCs including limited operational funds, inadequate office supplies and equipment, as well as inadequate supply of electricity.
NAYMOTE also noted that the organizational capacity of the county service centers is currently challenged. This is a because the employment status of County Coordinators, staff members and volunteers of CSCs is not regularized, in addition to staff attrition and limited capacity building interventions in management and the overall concept of local government and decentralization.
In relations to management of the facilities, NAYMOTE highlights in its report that oversight by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is poor, with irregular staff meetings and the absence of workplans and yearly operational plans.
Touching on Financial Management, the pro-democracy and advocacy group lamented that there is no system and procedure in place for the authorization of payments. At the same time, there is no petty cash system in place and CSCs do not conduct monthly bank reconciliation, adding this could create a window for financial impropriety.
On the issue of recentralization of services. NAYMOTE points out that services offered are not consistent across CSCs and some services such as vehicle registration and issuance of driver’s license have been centralized. This defeats the purpose of the decentralization program.
According to NAYMOTE, the level of efficiency at CSCs is low due to limited and irregular disbursement of financial resources by the central government to the CSCs. Additionally, some services are not processed on-site and require processing and approval from Monrovia. This contributes to prolonged delays in providing services to citizens.
As far as sustainability is concerned, the pro-democracy and advocacy group highlights the CSCs lack financial autonomy, despite generating substantial resources. It says full implementation of relevant Acts and regulations is necessary for sustainability. The report further adds the most respondents (73%) support revenue sharing between central and local governments.
The NAYMOTE Report further notes the following: rational linkage with other decentralized structures: There is no operational linkage between CSCs and other decentralized structures such as Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs), and County Councils are not fully functional.
Tracking end-users by age, gender and People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs): There is no harmonized system to track and document end-users by age, gender, and minority groups, and LISGIS is not fully operational at all CSCs.
Strategic Information: None of the five service centers has an active website and internet connectivity. Without a functional website, branding and visibility becomes low. Similarly, productivity at the CSCs is low without internet connection.
Citizens Feedback Mechanism: Citizens feedback mechanism systems have been installed at CSCs by UNDP but are not operational, and there is no evidence of how feedback from end users are currently solicited.
Information on cost to access services: Service costs are not readily available, leading to potential financial shortfalls for citizens. While services offered at the CSCs are displayed, their costs are not.
Read the full NAYMOTE Report here.
