Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her Ghanaian counterpart, John Koufour, were among participants discussing Aid and its effectiveness toward development assistance.

During round table discussions Wednesday in the Ghanaian capital Accra, President Sirleaf again spoke of the need to reduce the bureaucracies among lending institutions to speed up the development agenda of developing countries, particularly those emerging out of conflict. Too often, the Liberian leader observed, donor and development partners fail to take into consideration the exceptional circumstances of post conflict countries like Liberia.

The President highlighted infrastructure, unemployment, education, and health as key priorities which must be addressed. Unless donor countries and partners attach the urgency to the challenges and reduce the bureaucratic bottlenecks, the dividends of peace, she warned, could be threatened.

The President who returned home Wednesday following the one-day visit, again expressed her government's concern at the slow pace of development projects being supported by some of the country's leading lending institutions. The process between commitment and implementation, the Liberian leader stressed is too long. Making particular reference a number of programs including road rehabilitation, the country's ports, and Mt. Coffee hydro project, the President expressed impatience at the slow pace of implementation.

Touching on the country's energy sector, President Johnson Sirleaf said electricity is vital to the economic recovery of the country. She welcomed a decision by the American government to finance the feasibility study of the Mount Coffee Hydro facility. According to the a report submitted recently to the President by the American-based Stanley Consultants, it would require more than $5-hundred million dollars to fund the total cost of the Project.

Liberia, the President admitted, does not have the needed capital to fund the project, but maintained that given the projects crucial role to the economic recovery program of Liberia, urgency is needed have it rehabilitated.

"If you say, put it through our bidding process, I will say no. I'll give it to who will build it; we are going to give it to somebody. If it's got to be a private sector thing, we've got to get it done," the Liberian leader asserted.

The President said government remains supportive of the bidding process, but observed that given the country's exceptional circumstances where its entire infrastructure remains in ruins, certain key government assets which are tied to the economic recovery of the country must be tackled with all the urgency without undermining the process of bidding and competition.Addressing a forum of development minister Friday at the Foreign Ministry, the Liberian leader welcomed discussions by some partners on the need for budgetary support to government, but stressed that if government must build the confidence that leads the road map to budget support, corruption must be controlled in a more effective manner, which she admitted continues to pose a problem.

Part of the problem, the President said has to do with compensation levels in places for conditions of work, which government is trying to address. "Some of it has to do with the lack of trained personnel; while another has to do with mere greed and dishonesty."

The President also stressed the need for vocational training institutions that will enroll Liberians into training programs, to prepare them for service to the country. It is important the President said that government begins training its people to occupy positions that will be opening in the agricultural and mining sectors. "If they can't find the skills they need, they will have to start importing skills from other countries, unless we can address this problem," the President cautioned.

Friday's forum, intended to discuss Aid Effectiveness in post-conflict and fragile state context, was part of an extraordinary session organized by the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee. It coincided with a visit to Liberia by Development ministers from Norway, Japan, Sweden, Netherlands, as well as representatives of International Financial and donor institutions and ambassadors of several countries accredited near Monrovia.

Participants agreed, among other measures, on the need to provide budgetary support to strengthen the capacity of government and develop a framework to harmonize and align partner's support with government's development objectives.

Meanwhile, a visiting Rwandan delegation, which also participated in Friday's forum, has paid a courtesy call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Welcoming the delegation Saturday at the Foreign Ministry, President Ellen Sirleaf said Liberia was pleased to have the delegation visit the country and share with their Liberian counterparts Rwanda's experiences which have seen remarkable progress toward development.

The visit by the Rwandan delegation is a result of a recent meeting held between Presidents Johnson Sirleaf and Rwandan President Paul Kigame on the need for collaboration between the two post conflict countries.

The head of the Rwandan delegation, Mr. Rugira Amandin, expressed delight for the visit and assured the Liberian President that his country remains prepared to share with Liberia its experiences in national development. The 7-man delegation has left for home.