GANTA, Nimba – The only female presidential candidate in the upcoming elections, MacDella Cooper, has vowed to create an “improved Liberia” if elected as the next president of the country.

Speaking to a crew of reporters following her participation in the presidential debate organized by the Liberia Media Democracy Initiative and Public Trust Media Group in Ganta on August 14, Cooper said achieving this vision for Liberia would require paying more attention to the youth.

“We need to educate our young people of the country, because without the preparedness of our young people, we will have no future,” she said.

Cooper is running on the ticket of the Liberia Restoration Party, after she was booted as standard bearer of the Union of Liberian Democrats following internal quarrels within the party which made its way to court.

Cooper said while the current government has made some steps in ensuring that some government functions are decentralized, much more needs to be done. Far from simply moving the functions of ministries and agencies outside of Monrovia, she spoke of the dilution of the presidential power.

“I am talking about giving power to the local leaders,” she said. “Once the local leaders are empowered, they can run their jurisdictions and then we can bring a division of those ministries and agencies in the county and districts.”

But Cooper’s plan for decentralizing power has mostly been implemented by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The president submitted a draft Local Government Act to the National Legislature last year that contained much of those provisions Cooper spoke of. The bill has since lingered with the lawmakers.

Under Sirleaf’s decentralization policy, county services centers have also been established around the country to provide access to services such as obtaining driver licenses. Many of those services had previously only been obtainable in Monrovia. Additionally, Sirleaf held Independence Day celebrations throughout her presidency, ensuring that most counties hosted at least one iteration of the celebration.

Cooper said her leadership would be far better than what Liberians has now, especially on the issue of tackling corruption.

“Corruption can be tackled, but you’ve got to put mechanisms in place for those entrusted with national resources to give accountability of those resources they are handling,” she added.

The former model and humanitarian also touted her over 15 years of experience in providing access to Liberian women and children.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah