Published: October 28, 2026
GBARNGA, Bong County — Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister Gbeme Horace-Kollie is touring the counties to ensure money spent on programs for women, children and vulnerable groups reaches the people it is meant for, as her ministry delivers new office equipment to gender offices in all 15 counties.
By Rancy Clarke
“Since it started, I have decided to come and check in order to be sure the money government is spending is reaching the people,” Horace-Kollie said Tuesday in Gbarnga.
In Bong County, she said, the assessment focuses on the Spotlight Initiative and the REALISE Project, two programs under way in the county. The weeklong tour also gives the ministry a chance to hear directly from women, children, women’s organizations and county authorities about the challenges they face, and to strengthen cooperation on gender equality and social protection.
Her visit coincided with the delivery of office equipment to the ministry’s Gbarnga office under the Liberia Women Empowerment Project, which the ministry implements. The equipment, valued at US$52,810, is meant to improve service delivery and strengthen the response to gender-based violence. Distribution began in Nimba County on Monday and will cover all 15 counties.
Each county gender office is to receive a laptop, a printer, four printer cartridges, office desks and chairs, three standing fans and a filing cabinet. The ministry said the equipment will improve documentation, data management, recordkeeping, reporting and coordination, and help county gender officers serve women, girls and other vulnerable people.
The support falls under the project’s fourth component, which focuses on strengthening institutions to advance gender equality and improve gender-responsive services.
Musu Mulbah, the Bong County gender coordinator, said the equipment would ease long-standing logistical problems and improve the office’s daily operations. She said the Realise Project reaches about 2,000 beneficiaries in the county, while the Spotlight Initiative provides skills training and educational support to more than 270 survivors of gender-based violence.
Dozens of women and local officials, including Gbarnga City Mayor Gallah Varpilah and Bong County Superintendent Hawa Norris, welcomed Horace-Kollie at the superintendent’s compound.
“Like I said in the superintendent’s office, I am not a stranger here. This is my home,” she said.
Horace-Kollie said the government is caring for vulnerable children from Lofa and Nimba counties, Monrovia and Bong County at a safe home in Gbarlatuah, in Bong’s Electoral District 4.
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