Foya Statutory Superintendent Says Lack of Government Funding Is Crippling Local Administration

Published: July 8, 2026

FOYA, Lofa County — Foya District Statutory Superintendent Joseph Mbokar says his administration is being hampered by a deteriorating office building, outdated furniture, and a complete lack of government operational funds.

‎Mr. Mbokar, who serves as Statutory Superintendent for Foya, Tengia, and Wuam administrative districts, described the conditions of his office during an exclusive interview this Journalist.

‎“This is an administrative building that was built from the first commissioner that was here. This office needs to be a standard.” Mbokar said.

He noted that most of the furniture in use predates the current administration. “Even the chairs you see here, these chairs were provided during the Ellen Regime. The president now in power was the vice president. These are the materials,” he pointed to fading items in his office.

‎The former educator said the absence of a budget is the biggest obstacle to his work. “We do not have operational funds. Yeah, everything sometimes we do is either out of our own pocket or out of our own salary,” he asserted.

‎Mbokar said the funding gap makes it difficult to coordinate across the three districts under his supervision. “For me to have an operational fund is only when something happened to Wuam, something happened to Tengia, or around here,” he stated, maintaining that it’s a challenge for him and the commissioners working with him.

‎The complaint from the head of the three local districts comes as the Ministry of Local Government is in the middle of a transition period mandated by the Local Government Act of 2018.

‎Under Section 2.15(a), statutory districts were to remain in effect for seven years after the Act’s passage and be dissolved on November 23, 2025, with authority and budgetary functions shifting to Administrative Districts under Section 2.15(b). That leaves Statutory Superintendents like Mr. Mbokar caught between a legal mandate that still recognizes his office, but does not provide a direct central allocation for it, as the funded structure is yet tied to Administrative Districts he does not fully operate under.

‎“But I can say we are still in a transition. I believe that the government of Liberia will focus on the challenge I have here,” Mbokar expressed despite the challenges assertion.