Five More Cabinet Ministers Sign Performance Contracts with President Sirleaf, Pledging to Live up to Commitments Made

Minister of Justice, Christiana Tah	Minister of Education, Etmonia Tarpeh	Director General of the General Services Agency, Pearine Davis-Parkinson

(MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Tuesday, October 30, 2012) Five more Cabinet Ministers signed Performance Contracts with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Tuesday, October 30th, bringing to 12 the number that have signed the documents jointly prepared by them and the Office of the President as part of efforts to promote Liberia’s development.
Signing at Tuesday’s ceremony were: the Minister of Justice, Christiana Tah; the Minister of Public Works, Samuel Kofi Woods; the Minister of Education, Etmonia Tarpeh; the Minister of Gender and Development, Julia Duncan Cassell; and the Director General of the General Services Agency, Pearine Davis-Parkinson.

According to an Executive Mansion release, speaking President Sirleaf told the Ministers that she was pleased with the manner in which the Cabinet was working as a team for the country’s development. This is “a new era of performance-based and performance-bound commitment to deliver to the people,” the Liberian leader said, adding that Performance Contracts serve as a guiding tool.

The President said she wanted to complete the signing process so that full monitoring of performances could commence. Mindful that resources are needed in order to carry out the activities promised, the President called the process “dynamic,” and assured the Ministers that if they encounter challenges and obstacles, together they will look at the commitments they have signed on to, and make the necessary adjustments. “It is good that we have this to keep us focused,” she declared.

Left, Minister of Gender and Development, Julia Duncan Cassell; Center, Director General of the General Services Agency, Pearine Davis-Parkinson and Right, Minister of Public Works, Samuel Kofi Woods

Responding on behalf of her colleagues, Minister Tarpeh thanked the President for the confidence she had placed in them, adding, “We are committed to live up to what we sign,”

On hand to witness the signing were: the Dean of the Cabinet, Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan; the Minister of Internal Affairs, Blamo Nelson; the Minister of State without Portfolio, Conmany Wesseh; and the Legal Counsel to the President, Cllr. Seward Cooper.

At the first signing ceremony held on September 18, Performance Contracts were signed by the Ministers of: Foreign Affairs; Health and Social Welfare; Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism; Commerce and Industry; Labor; Youth and Sports; and Internal Affairs.

On that occasion, President Sirleaf challenged the Ministers to see development as dynamic and to expect a change or expansion in the targets they’ve set from time to time for the better of the country.“These priorities were set by you, and at the same time you solicited budgetary support to set these priorities,” she pointed out, and added, “It’s therefore my hope that we all will work together to deliver these priorities to our people.”

The Performance Contracts signed between Cabinet Ministers and the President cover a one-year period beginning October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013. Each Minister was asked to identify four projects (targeted goals) that can be achieved within a year and can be measured in tangible ways.

President Sirleaf also has a part to play in the execution of the Performance Contracts, including providing a strategic direction and overall supervision for the effective implementation of the targets; providing support to ensure timely delivery of the agreed targets or outputs; providing appropriate coordination and tracking mechanism by the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure other parties that should provide inputs to the Minister’s efforts, do so and on time; and providing additional support from the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) in the Ministry of State, where the circumstances merit, to help them achieve their goals.

The Cabinet Secretariat, headed by the Director-General of the Cabinet, Dr. Momo Rogers, and the PDU have been asked to monitor the Performance Contracts throughout the year, keeping track of progress or challenges every quarter of the reporting period.  Dr. Rogers pointed out that it was not the President’s intention to penalize Cabinet Ministers, but rather to give them the means to deliver effectively and efficiently, and that was why each project is tied to the budget.