The ex-Internal Affairs Minister made the statement over the weekend in the courtyard of the ministry when he officially turned over the mantle of authority to his successor, Blamo Nelson.
“I will always be available for the MIA family, and at the same time, my support for President Sirleaf and her Government remains unflinching,” Mr. Karnwea told the audience to a rowdy applause.
Citing his achievements during his administration, Mr. Karnwea outlined among other accomplishments the recently concluded validation of a five-year Strategic Development Plan.
The program is intended to serve as road-map for the implementation of several projects across the country in the “months and years ahead.”
President Sirleaf appointed Mr. Karnwea to the post in 2009 following the “resignation” of then minister, Mr. Ambullai Johnson.
Meanwhile, Karnwea’s successor, former Grand Kru County Senator, Blamo Nelson, has disclosed that his foremost priority will include managing the process of decentralizing the public sector, such that it will be easier for the Government to support the allocation and delivery of basic social services to the people, and for the people to assume responsibility for their own welfare and well-being.
“We are not coming to the MIA to re-invent the wheels of progress. Our efforts will not be concentrated on policy design and formulations. We will instead focus on policy implementation,” the incoming minister asserted.
He assured his colleagues that his administration will be guided by the sense and intent of President Sirleaf for her second term, as articulated in a number of key policy instruments already formulated and validated by the Government, civil society and other development partners during her first term.
Among the key policy documents Mr. Nelson intends to rely on are the Liberia Decentralization and Local Development Plan, the National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance, and the MIA Strategic Plans (2012-2016).
“Because there is so much work to be done to make the MIA the most effective agency of Government, there will be no time to entertain gossip and to take away jobs from anybody,” the incoming minister assured the workforce.
He then expressed the hope that the main subject of employees and supervisors’ conversation within the ministry will be about the level of productivity, efficiency, professionalism, motivation, honesty and respect for labor, as his administration embarks on the job ahead.
In her recent appointments, President Sirleaf named the ex-Gand Kru Senator as the Minister of Internal Affairs, replacing Mr. Karnwea.
Also appointed at the MIA by President Sirleaf was Varney Sirleaf, Deputy Minister
for Administration, replacing Mr. Soko V. Sackor; former Bong County Superintendent, Ranney Jackson, Deputy Minister for Operations; and Tia Nagbae, Deputy Minister for Planning & Research, replacing Mr. Peter Z.N. Kammie.
Both Nelson and Jackson contested the junior senatorial post for their respective counties during the October 11, 2011 general and legislative elections, but lost.
