Hon. Benedict Kolubah is a trained and well experienced development practitioner who understands the current trend of development in Liberia amidst the regional and global agendas (Agenda 2063 and SDGs 2030) and an appreciable knowledge of development planning in fragile states. He has experience in strategic and programmatic budgeting, program development, and funding negotiation with development partners.

Assistant Minister Kolubah has served as Pillar Specialist for the Economic Transformation Pillar of the Agenda for Transformation, the past medium term development plan of Liberia, as well as Acting Assistant Director for Plan, Development and Coordination Unit in the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. In these roles, he enhanced coordination by strengthening inter-sectorial collaboration working with key stakeholders (MACs, Development Partners, CSO, and Private Sector), and liaised with Budget, M&E and Aid Management to ensure pillar gets the support to implement planned interventions and also with the County Development Steering Committees to collect and collate implementation report from the counties.

Hon. Kolubah started his career as the founder and Executive Director for the Lofa Educational and Agricultural foundation (LEAF), a National Non-government Organization that provided emergency agriculture Assistance to International displaced people in bong county during the civil crisis from 2001-2004. When he served as County Coordinator for Lofa Land Commission of Liberia, he coordinated the work of the county system partners and services providers as well as local authorities intervening in the land sector and served as the main point of contact for local communities and government representatives. Additionally, he has served as Senior Sector Analyst (Economic Growth Corridor Study).

In 2011, he provided consultancy for UNICEF in conducting the Liberia Micro Nutrient Survey. He has served UNFAO as individual consultant and conducted mapping exercise of the main actors in tenure governance in Liberia in the areas of land, fisheries and forests and their initiatives, roles and contributions to improving tenure governance under the principles of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance Tenure-VGGT

Assistant Minister Kolubah holds a Master of Arts (MA) Degree in Peace and Development Studies from the Kofi Annan Institute of Conflict Transformation (KAICT), University of Liberia, and a Bachelor of Arts (honors) in Sociology, from the A. M. E. Zion University, Monrovia. He has had specialized trainings in Project Engineering by the ECOWAS Commission-Abidjan, Diplomatic Studies, Development Management, Proposals Design, Development and Project Management and M&E both nationally and internationally.

The General Administrative Services Unit is the largest unit within the Department of Budget and Development Planning. The Unit coordinates budget preparation, collation and implementation by spending entities in the various sectors under the unit. The Unit receives budget formulation guidelines from the Budget Policy and Coordination Unit and passes them on to the spending entities in the various sectors and assists them to prepare their budget estimates in conformity with the agreed resource ceilings.

After approval of the annual, contingent and supplementary budgets, the Unit upload the necessary information into the Budget Management tool for further upload into the IFMIS system for execution. The unit also do analysis of request coming from the various spending entities asking for allotments. The unit process Personnel Action Notices coming from the Civil Service Agency for employment. It also advices the spending entities on the execution of their budget in line with their work plans and spending plans.Basically, there are four sectors under the General Administrative Services Unit, they are:Public Administration Sector, Municipal Sector, Transparency & Accountability Sector, Security and the Rule of Law Sector. Some of the big spending entities under the Public Administration Sector include:The National Legislature, Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Services Agency, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Major spending entities under Transparency and Accountability Sector are: National Elections Commission, Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, General Auditing Commission, Public Procurement and Concession Commission.Some of the major spending entities under Municipal Sector are: the Ministry of Internal Affairs; Monrovia City Corporation and Paynesville City Corporation.Under the Security & the Rule of Law Sector are the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of National Defense.

Social Development & Community Services Unit The Social and Community Services Unit within the Department of Budget, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is comprised of three sectors- Health, Education and Social Development Sectors. There are 37-line ministries and agencies within the unit with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection as lead ministries in the Health, Education and Social Development Sectors respectively. The Unit is supervised by a director and two assistant directors with a host of senior and staff analysts.

Health SectorThe primary goal of the Health Sector is to promote quality health services and reduced the incidence of preventable diseases throughout the country. The Ministry of Health is the Lead Ministry in the Health Sector with a total of 11 spending ministries and agencies. The Ministries and agencies include the Ministry of Health, John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital, Phebe Hospital, Liberia Board of Nursing and Midwifery(LBNM), Liberia Pharmacy Board(LPB), Liberia Medical and Dental Counsel (LMDC), Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons (LCPS), Liberia Medical and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMPHRA), National Aids Commission (NAC), Jackson F. Doe Memorial Hospital and National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL). The Health Sector which is an important component of the Social and Community Services Unit is supervised by an Assistant director with one senior budget officer and three budget officers as analysts.

Education SectorThe education sector is an essential sector in the Social and Community Service Unit and Department of Budget. The paramount goal of the sector is to ensure equal access to a high quality, free compulsory basic education and training opportunities that will lead to an improved livelihood of the citizenry. The sector consists of twenty (20) spending entities with the Ministry of Education Serving as the lead Ministry. The spending entities within the Sector are Ministry of Education, University of Liberia, Monrovia Consolidated School System, Booker Washington Institute, Cuttington University College, National Commission on Higher Education, William Tubman University, West African Examination Council, Agricultural and Industrial Training Bureau, Zorzor Rural Teacher Training Institute, Webbo Rural Teacher Training Institute, Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute, Bassa County Community College, Bomi County Community College, Nimba Community College, Lofa Community College,Bong Community College, Grand Gedeh Community College, Harbel College, Sinoe Community College. The Education Sector within the Social and Community Services Unit is supervised by an assistant director with one senior budget officer, two budget officers as analysts and a staff assistant respectively.

Social Development SectorSector Goal: The overarching goal of the Social Development Sector within the Social and Community Service Unit, Department of Budget is to ensure the provision of basic social services to all Liberians including people with disabilities, women, children, youth, refugees and veterans. The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) is the Lead Ministry in the sector. The Sector has a total of 6 line ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS), Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC), National Commission on Disabilities (NCD), National Veterans Bureau (NVB), Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE) and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP). The Social Development Sector is supervised currently by the assistant director for Health follow by one senior budget officer and one budget officer as principal analysts.

The Economic Services Unit (ESU) whose objective is to transform the economy in order to meet the employable needs of the citizens by investing in infrastructure, agriculture, energy and the domestic private sector for economic growth encompasses four sectors namely: Agriculture, Energy & Environment, Commerce & Industry and Infrastructure & Basic Services.

The ESU works with twenty-nine (29) spending entities by ensuring the preparation, formulation, execution and monitoring and evaluation of their Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budgets. The budgets are formulated on a multi-year basis by ensuring that spending entities’ budgets are aligned to the policy priorities of the Government within a resource constraint environment. The policy priorities are enshrined in the overarching National Vision, The Agenda for Transformation (AfT) then and now the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) and can be met through a sustained increase in investment over the medium-term.

The unit performs its functions in the frame of assisting spending entities develop their medium term budgets, exercise due diligence over their budgets, review their expenditure requests and issuance of allotments and participates in the basic funding analysis which dovetail into the indicative ceilings for the spending entities.

The ESU accounts for 14.8 per cent of the National Budget which translates into US$84,613,242 as its original or approved budget.

Presently, the Unit is staffed with the following personnel: a Director, two Assistant Directors, two Senior Budget Officers, three Budget Officers and two Staff Assistants who are currently performing their tasks and responsibilities in the Unit.

Coming Soon.

The Budget Policy and Coordination Unit is one of the four (4) units of the Budget Division within the Department of Budget and Development Planning. Its main objective is to collect and analyze data to be used in providing technical support to ministries and agencies of all sectors of government as well as coordinate activities relating to the formulation, execution and reporting of the budget, and public information purposes. 

A key task of this unit will be to strengthen the Ministry’s relationship with other spending entities.Roles and FunctionsThe ultimate responsibilities of the Budget Policy and Coordination Unit are as follow:i. Coordinate the formulation of the budget and issue guidelines to all stakeholdersii. Develop framework for the review and prioritization of expenditureiii. Set criteria for sector resource allocationiv. Oversee the alignment of the budget to the macro-economic framework for the approval of the Budget Management Committeev. Disseminate budget information to the public

StructureThe unit is headed by a Director and consists of 2 (two) sections: (1) Strategy and forecasting (2) Budget development and dissemination. These sections are headed by 2 (two) Assistant Directors, working along with a team of analysts and technicians.

o Reports (MYR, BPR including transfers, IYR, PBS, CGNB, EBS, EYR, DMR, RPR, BFP, ABC, BCC, BPN, etc.)

Lead and coordinate the national development plan, planning processes and implementation; work with sector ministries, agencies and commissions and development partners in aligning sectors and development plans to government priorities; mainstream global, continental, and regional frameworks into the national development plan; conduct research on development and sector policy issues for evidence-based planning;

Coordinate the formulation of sector and regional strategies in line with the National Growth Strategy or National Medium Term Development Plan; assist sectors and regions to develop annual and medium, programs and projects in line with available resources; assist sectors and regions in communicating resource requirements to the Budget Division for inclusion in the national budget through Sector Working Group; assist sectors and regions in the implementation of their plans, programs and projects; assist sectors and regions in obtaining the core, contingent and supplementary budget allocations in the course of the financial year; coordinate and report on sectoral implementation of the National Medium Term Development Plan; coordinate the implementation of the National and Sub-national plans by organizing the County Development Steering Committee meetings in the fifteen counties of Liberia;

Develop clear, comprehensive and robust Results Frameworks and systems for the monitoring and evaluation of all government program activities including externally funded programs and projects and ensure that they are consistent with the national development priorities; prepare national M&E documents detailing policies, implementation framework, norms, standards, guidelines and tools to support the quality enhancement of M&E in all MACs; monitor and evaluate the Government’s overall development agenda and liaise with MACs as well as donor partners to maximize adherence to development plans;

 

Coordinate the activities of NGOs operations in the Country in collaboration with all line ministries, agencies and commissions, making sure that NGOs programs are in line with Government Development Plan; conduct background checks and scrutinize the credentials and status of all NGOs seeking to register and operate in Liberia; make recommendations to the Minister of the MFDP or his/her designee legitimate NGOs for accreditation or renewal of accreditation certificates; recommend legitimate NGOs to relevant authorities for duty free waiver or be accorded any other privileges or immunities; keep a registry of all registered and accredited NGOs; monitor compliance by all registered and accredited NGOs in Liberia with relevant pertinent laws, statute, regulations and policy; coordinate government engagement with umbrella organizations to promote responsible and accountable conduct amongst NGO sector actors in the country; coordinate Government engagement with development partners to enhance capacity building and sustainability of the NGO sector; coordinate government engagement with other stakeholders to establish a reliable database and information system on the NGO sector in Liberia; work closely with the sector lead Ministry, NGO umbrella organizations and other stakeholders to prepare, and disseminate widely, periodic official reports on the status, contribution and impact of the NGO sector to national development;

Content coming soon

The Department of Budget and Development Planning is responsible for preparing, framing and implementing the annual budget, as well as undertaking fiscal consolidation, monitoring the budgetary position and engaging with the Legislative Budget Office (LBO) for legislative approval of the Budget.

The Department also assists with preparing development plans and providing guidance to all government agencies for preparing development programs and projects, as well as implementation and monitoring.

The Department is also responsible to advise on the allocation of resources to line ministries and agencies for the implementation of development programs and projects. It has oversight for monitoring and evaluating government’s overall development agenda and liaising with Ministries and Agencies (M&As) as well as donor partners to maximize adherence to development plans. Working with sector agencies, the Department is also responsible to appraise and approve all public investment proposals of the line ministries. In short, the Department is effectively the voice of development within government.

Tanneh Geraldine Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Republic of Liberia. She is responsible for preparing the framework and implementation of the National Budget and providing guidance and support in preparing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development plans, programs and projects. She brings to the job, significant experience in public financial management including the budget development and management policies, coordinating with all sectors, as well as, development partners on translating government plans into reality.

Career Highlights She’s currently leading a reform that seeks to promote gender equity and inclusive participation of vulnerable groups in the national development process .The Government’s focus is to make the public financial reforms and in particular, Gender Responsive Budgeting a tool for contributing towards inclusive growth. The aim is to ensure that allocation and expenditure of public finances are done in a gender responsive manner so that budget becomes a redistributive means to address entrenched gender-specific inequalities. To that effect she has galvanized general consensus for integrating the gender responsive budgeting (GRPB) process as part of the overall public financial reforms initiative.

As Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, she alone with her technical team was able to lead on the institutionalization of Decentralization at the county level. This framework is a mechanism to ensure budgetary and financial management processes are implemented in the local government structure. As the result of these engagements, county service centers are now setup in all fifteen counties.

Later, as Coordinator of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Secretariat, she coordinated the establishment and management of a new MTFE budget process and redirected resources to ensure that the budget serves as a key policy tool to implement Government’s economic and development priorities.She gained valuable experience working in the public sector (human services) for fifteen years in several management positions, including Department of Health and Human Resources for the Montgomery County Government and the Government of the State of Maryland, USA. There, she evaluated Federal, State and Local Governments subsidy program operations to assess integrity and quality, formulated policies, interpreted regulations and procedures for implementation.

Since her return to Liberia in 2009, she has played a key role in the government’s public financial management reform initiatives. She was assigned at the Ministry of Finance, where she provided guidance on the development and implementation processes of the annual budget; directed and managed analysis of budget information to respond to internal and external queries and provided critical information to senior decision-makers, consistent with government’s priorities and financial resources.

Work Experience (Current & Past)Tanneh Geraldine Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Republic of Liberia. She is responsible for preparing the framework and implementation of the National Budget and providing guidance and support in preparing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development plans, programs and projects. She brings to the job, significant experience in public financial management including the budget development and management policies, coordinating with all sectors, as well as, development partners on translating government plans into reality.

Career Highlights She’s currently leading a reform that seeks to promote gender equity and inclusive participation of vulnerable groups in the national development process .The Government’s focus is to make the public financial reforms and in particular, Gender Responsive Budgeting a tool for contributing towards inclusive growth. The aim is to ensure that allocation and expenditure of public finances are done in a gender responsive manner so that budget becomes a redistributive means to address entrenched gender-specific inequalities. To that effect she has galvanized general consensus for integrating the gender responsive budgeting (GRPB) process as part of the overall public financial reforms initiative.

As Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, she alone with her technical team was able to lead on the institutionalization of Decentralization at the county level. This framework is a mechanism to ensure budgetary and financial management processes are implemented in the local government structure. As the result of these engagements, county service centers are now setup in all fifteen counties.

Later, as Coordinator of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Secretariat, she coordinated the establishment and management of a new MTFE budget process and redirected resources to ensure that the budget serves as a key policy tool to implement Government’s economic and development priorities.

She gained valuable experience working in the public sector (human services) for fifteen years in several management positions, including Department of Health and Human Resources for the Montgomery County Government and the Government of the State of Maryland, USA. There, she evaluated Federal, State and Local Governments subsidy program operations to assess integrity and quality, formulated policies, interpreted regulations and procedures for implementation.

The Assistant Minister for Development Planning heads five units in the Division of Development Planning: Plan Development and Coordination Unit (PDCU), Monitoring & Evaluation Unit (M&E), Regional & Sectoral Planning Unit (RSPU), Public Investment Unit (PIU), and the NGO Coordination Unit.

The division is responsible for, developing, coordinating, and monitoring development plans, underpinned by sound evidence-based research. It provides guidance to all sectors and counties for formulating development programs and projects necessary for the implementation of the development plans to steer the country’s economy in the desired direction. The division is thus responsible for the formulation of a development and growth strategy, which will culminate in medium/long term national development plans. As the principal adviser to GoL on development planning and implementation, the division is the chief driver and coordinator of the National Development Plan. Additionally, the division coordinates all NGOs, United Nation systems, development partners’ strategic planning and programming activities in the country to ensure alignment with national priorities.

Lead and coordinate the national development plan, planning processes and implementation; work with sector ministries, agencies and commissions and development partners in aligning sectors and development plans to government priorities; mainstream global, continental, and regional frameworks into the national development plan; conduct research on development and sector policy issues for evidence-based planning;

Coordinate the formulation of sector and regional strategies in line with the National Growth Strategy or National Medium Term Development Plan; assist sectors and regions to develop annual and medium, programs and projects in line with available resources; assist sectors and regions in communicating resource requirements to the Budget Division for inclusion in the national budget through Sector Working Group; assist sectors and regions in the implementation of their plans, programs and projects; assist sectors and regions in obtaining the core, contingent and supplementary budget allocations in the course of the financial year; coordinate and report on sectoral implementation of the National Medium Term Development Plan; coordinate the implementation of the National and Sub-national plans by organizing the County Development Steering Committee meetings in the fifteen counties of Liberia;

Prepare and disseminate methodologies, instructions, templates, and other public investment management (PIM) tools for the use by ministries, agencies and commissions (MACs); build the capacity of MACs in project development/initiation, project management, project implementation and monitoring; review all project proposals and appraisals presented by MACs; coordinate the appraisal and approval of public investment proposals while ensuring value for money and alignment to national development priorities; consolidate all capital investment initiatives undertaken by the government of Liberia irrespective of their source of funding. These include Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) that will be channeled through the MTEF process; develop and maintain a comprehensive national project database –both GoL and donor funded projects –that will become the source for the Public Investment Program (PIP), MTEF and the budget; assist State Own Enterprises (SOEs) with Coordination and tracking of their development plans.

Develop clear, comprehensive and robust Results Frameworks and systems for the monitoring and evaluation of all government program activities including externally funded programs and projects and ensure that they are consistent with the national development priorities; prepare national M&E documents detailing policies, implementation framework, norms, standards, guidelines and tools to support the quality enhancement of M&E in all MACs; monitor and evaluate the Government’s overall development agenda and liaise with MACs as well as donor partners to maximize adherence to development plans;

Coordinate the activities of NGOs operations in the Country in collaboration with all line ministries, agencies and commissions, making sure that NGOs programs are in line with Government Development Plan; conduct background checks and scrutinize the credentials and status of all NGOs seeking to register and operate in Liberia; make recommendations to the Minister of the MFDP or his/her designee legitimate NGOs for accreditation or renewal of accreditation certificates; recommend legitimate NGOs to relevant authorities for duty free waiver or be accorded any other privileges or immunities; keep a registry of all registered and accredited NGOs; monitor compliance by all registered and accredited NGOs in Liberia with relevant pertinent laws, statute, regulations and policy; coordinate government engagement with umbrella organizations to promote responsible and accountable conduct amongst NGO sector actors in the country; coordinate Government engagement with development partners to enhance capacity building and sustainability of the NGO sector; coordinate government engagement with other stakeholders to establish a reliable database and information system on the NGO sector in Liberia; work closely with the sector lead Ministry, NGO umbrella organizations and other stakeholders to prepare, and disseminate widely, periodic official reports on the status, contribution and impact of the NGO sector to national development;

Tanneh Geraldine Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Republic of Liberia. She is responsible for preparing the framework and implementation of the National Budget and providing guidance and support in preparing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development plans, programs and projects. She brings to the job, significant experience in public financial management including the budget development and management policies, coordinating with all sectors, as well as, development partners on translating government plans into reality.

Career Highlights She’s currently leading a reform that seeks to promote gender equity and inclusive participation of vulnerable groups in the national development process .The Government’s focus is to make the public financial reforms and in particular, Gender Responsive Budgeting a tool for contributing towards inclusive growth. The aim is to ensure that allocation and expenditure of public finances are done in a gender responsive manner so that budget becomes a redistributive means to address entrenched gender-specific inequalities. To that effect she has galvanized general consensus for integrating the gender responsive budgeting (GRPB) process as part of the overall public financial reforms initiative.

As Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, she alone with her technical team was able to lead on the institutionalization of Decentralization at the county level. This framework is a mechanism to ensure budgetary and financial management processes are implemented in the local government structure. As the result of these engagements, county service centers are now setup in all fifteen counties.

Later, as Coordinator of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Secretariat, she coordinated the establishment and management of a new MTFE budget process and redirected resources to ensure that the budget serves as a key policy tool to implement Government’s economic and development priorities.She gained valuable experience working in the public sector (human services) for fifteen years in several management positions, including Department of Health and Human Resources for the Montgomery County Government and the Government of the State of Maryland, USA. There, she evaluated Federal, State and Local Governments subsidy program operations to assess integrity and quality, formulated policies, interpreted regulations and procedures for implementation.