Monrovia — Agriculture Minister Jeanie Milly Cooper triggered a firestorm back in April when she took the controversial decision to cancel a bidding process for heavy-duty tractors and other agricultural equipment in order to rationalize spending of donor funds.
She did not stop there. Breaking the bureaucratic channels of the African Development Bank amid accusations that she breached protocol of the Public Procurement Concessions Commission and the government, the minister went on to request a new bid that includes an expanded list of equipment better suited to Liberia's climate and topography; more aligned to farmers' needs and for smaller farm sizes and rationalized with agricultural assets already on ground.
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