CDA Boss, Kandakai tells employees
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson I
Lwopu G. Kandakai, the newly inducted Registrar General of the Cooperative Development Agency of Liberia has vowed that the new administration of the cooperative under her leadership will not engage with witch-hunting within the CDA but will rather work together to ensure that Liberia is self-sufficient in food production and is strong enough to export. He asserted that food security has a multiplayer effect on the peace and sustainability of Liberia.
“To the staff of the CDA, please be informed that as other institutions and agencies have said, we are not here to wish-hunt anybody in the workplace. Instead, we are eagerly looking forward to working as one happy family, to ensure that Liberia is self-sufficient in food production and is strong enough to
export, which will have a multiplier effect on our peace and stability.”
Kandakai cautioned that the administration under her leadership will ensure that the right people are in the right place to enable the CDA to function effectively in implementing the president’s agenda. “What we will not condone, is to, have square pegs in round holes.”
The CDA Registrar further revealed that the cooperative is currently bankrupt, with its current account balance at LRD 10,000 and USD 100.00. Therefore, called upon the national government to increase budget allotment towards the Cooperative to ensure it is sufficient enough to carry out its functionalities.
“We are currently starting our work today with a bank officialbalances of USD 100.00 and LRD 10, 000.00 as balances in those accounts.
We are therefore adding our voices to numeral other voices to revisit the budget, to enable the agency to contribute to the achievement of the Government’s ARREST Agenda.”
He further added that the CDA is currently indebted internationally to its fellow alliance cooperative. He asserted that if the CDA should be visible on the international scene, it must settle its debts to the tune of $10,000.00 United States dollars
“If the CDA is to be visible on the international stage through the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), it will have to pay its dues in the tone of Ten Thousand ($10,000) United States Dollars that which was not captured in the current budget as well.”
She concluded by lauding the president for his preference for an all-female leadership to head the cooperative development agency.
Assuring the president that their leadership will not disappoint him.
“We want to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the President for appointing, for the first time, in the history of the CDA, three female executives and one male to manage the agency. We therefore want to promise him that we will not let him down in the discharge of our responsibilities.”
Making an induction statement, the minister of agriculture and chairperson of the board of directors of the Cooperative Development Agency, Hon. Dr. J. Alexander Neuteh, provided that as minister of agriculture, the ministry under his administration will prioritize the cooperative development agency, as an agriculture cooperative will be given the requisite resources to make sure the CDA become more efficient to ensure productivity is gain from cooperative.
“The president of this country takes seriously two institutions, the LPMC now LACRA, and the CDA. Cooperatives are the mains of making farmers wealthy so His Excellency, the president wants to see cooperatives reactivated.
“So as Minister of Agriculture, under my administration, we will make sure the CDA has the requisite resources that it will be able to perform as an institution that is responsible for developing agriculture in this country.
Because it is through the CDA that we will see our rural communities develop.” Dr. Neuteh said.
The Agriculture Minister further provided that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on a new agriculture development plan that would impact smallholder farmers and further transform agriculture through cooperatives.
“We are now working on the national agriculture development plan. that plan will be focused on developing all the sub-sectors we have under the agriculture sector.”
He further stated that the Ministry of Agriculture will be working with the cooperative development agency to reform some of the ways cooperatives have been working in the country. He added that will be done to ensure that members of cooperatives are doing what is reported on documents.
“We will be working with the cooperative development agency to reform some of the ways cooperatives have been working in this country. We will do that to ensure that members of cooperatives are doing what they say on paper. And that the wealth that will be created by the cooperative is equitably distributed amongst members of the cooperatives.”
At the same time, the agriculture minister who is also the board chair of the CDA revealed that there are reports that the cooperative development agency is over staffed and there are some staffers who are at the corporation that are not doing what is required of them.
Further urging the CDA to review the operation of the cooperative and ensure they are functional enough.
“During that transition, we received reports on the CDA and the report told me that it over staffed and the cooperatives were not working. The CDA has not gone across the country to some of the places cooperatives are supposed to be. This tells the cooperatives under the cooperative development agency are not functioning. We want to go beyond just having the name of the cooperative and doing the functions of the cooperative.”
For their part, the National Federation of Cooperative Societies – LNFCS urged the government through the office of the President, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, and the Ministry of Agriculture to empower the agriculture sector by shifting the dynamics of agriculture from theories to practical.
Stating that institution and capacity building will make the cooperative achieve the goals for which it was established.
“Agriculture should not be on the table, it should be practical.Inducting these people in the office should not be the final. They need institutions and capacity building that will boost the effectiveness of the agricultural sector. If you do not support agriculture institutions to do their work, you would be blaming them for nothing.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Agency through its monitoring and evaluation specialist Spensor S. Salime committed to working with the administration of registrar general of the cooperative development agency, Hon. Lwopu G. Kandakai in implementing and achieving the government development agenda.
