Media Is The Bridge To Public Ownership”: Information Minister Piah Tells Journalists As MFDP Launches 4-Day Training On Fiscal Decentralization Reporting In Buchanan

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Media Is The Bridge To Public Ownership”: Information Minister Piah Tells Journalists As MFDP Launches 4-Day Training On Fiscal Decentralization Reporting In Buchanan

BY: Rufus Divine Brooks Jr

BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County, – The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning [MFDP] has launched a four-day capacity-building workshop for journalists aimed at improving reporting on fiscal decentralization and local governance, with Information Minister Jerolinmek M. Piah declaring that the media is the critical bridge between policy formulation and public ownership.

The training, which began Wednesday, September 9 and runs through September 12, 2026, is being held in Buchanan and organized by the MFDP’s Fiscal Decentralization Unit in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government.

Delivering the keynote on behalf of Minister Piah Thursday, Deputy Information Minister for Technical Services Nat Bayjay said the Boakai Administration’s decentralization push requires a new kind of journalism.

“As Liberia accelerates its fiscal decentralization program, the role of journalists, especially locally based ones, is very important,” Minister Piah’s statement read.

“The thought of carrying the media along in this process goes beyond just being participants.

The media serves as the critical bridge between policy formulation and public ownership in implementing Liberia’s National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance.

Minister Piah urged journalists to move coverage away from Monrovia and focus on local structures like the County Treasury Framework [CTF] and County Development Agendas.

He said reporters must translate technical terms such as revenue sharing formulas, budget disaggregation, and county service center allocations” into language citizens understand.[CDAs]

“This is very important as the country departs from its public financial management system which has been heavily centralized in Monrovia time over time,” he added.

The workshop brings together journalists from national broadcasters, community radio stations, online platforms, and newspapers.

Participants are being trained on decentralization policies, county governance structures, budgeting, local revenue generation, procurement, and public expenditure tracking.

Special emphasis is being placed on strengthening community radio journalism among others.

Minister Piah said, stronger media coverage is needed to close the information gap on public finances, especially in rural areas where internet access is limited and community radio remains the most trusted source.

The initiative falls under President Joseph Boakai’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, 2025–2029, which prioritizes decentralization, transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.