BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – The Liberia Institute of Public Administration is launching its first regional training center outside of Monrovia since its establishment.

LIPA, which was founded in 1969 to build the capacity of public sector institutions, will start rolling out training programs offered in Monrovia at the new campus in fields such as public procurement, database management, human resource management, and internal auditing. The new center is targeting individuals working for decentralized government agencies in Grand Bassa, River Cess, and Sinoe.

Jefferson Bates, the head of the Buchanan training center, said the center would make LIPA’s training programs more accessible.

“As you may be aware, at LIPA we are involved with training and since we came into being in 1969 and we started [in] 1972, the issues about our operations have been limited to [the] central office in Montserrado,” he told stakeholders at a September 6 event in Buchanan. “Today, having this stakeholder engagement meeting signifies to us that indeed we are on the path of success.”

The meeting saw three presentations made on LIPA’s courses in public procurement, internal auditing, and public financial management. Bates said the training organization would offer certificates and diplomas in its courses at the Buchanan campus. He noted that similar stakeholder engagements would also occur in the other two target counties.

Also present at the engagement meeting was Grand Bassa’s county budget officer, Theophilus Chea, who thanked LIPA for decentralizing its trainings. He promised that the people of Grand Bassa would support and make use of the training center.

Chea said capacity building is key to nation building and the presence of LIPA in Grand Bassa is a clear indication that it is ready to build the capacity of Liberian across the country to meaningfully contribute to the growth and development of Liberia.

“We are calling on all of our people – whether from Bassa, River Cess, or Sinoe – to attend and be ready for future jobs,” Chea added.

LIPA requires its trainees to already hold a bachelor’s degree. However, some Grand Bassa residents who attended the meeting are calling on the institution to alter its criteria to enable graduates of the Grand Bassa Community College to benefit from its programs.

Samuel Wilson, who represented civil society organizations, said the bachelor’s degree criterion would deprive many Grand Bassa citizens of the opportunity of being trained because the county’s only college only offers associate degrees.

Featured photo by Sampson David