The Ministry of Internal Affairs on Thursday July 5, 2012 began a weeklong forum for nearly two hundred chiefs and traditional leaders from across the 15 counties of Liberia.

The forum called ‘Special forum for Traditional Chief’ graced by international partners, is intended to brief the country’s traditional people on the significance and values of the National Decentralization program, the implementation which is led by the Internal Affairs Ministry.

The special forum under the theme: “What is meant by Governance Decentralization and what is expected of the Chiefs and Elders of the country” brought together senior traditional leaders including the National Traditional Council of Liberia, Paramount chiefs, Traditional Mothers and Tribal Governors Country.

According to a general circular, twenty chiefs are members of the National Traditional Council of Liberia headed its Chairman Chief Zanzan Karwor, 105 are Paramount Chiefs and seven are drawn from each county.

There are thirty Traditional mothers, two selected from each county and thirty Tribal Governors, tow representing each of Liberia’s fifteen political sub-divisions.

The weeklong forum provided an opportunity for heads of Agencies and Ministers of government to brief the traditional people on the roles of their institutions in the process of Decentralization.

International partners include the United Sates Agency for International Development, USAID, the US-based The Cater Center and the United Nations Development Program, UNDP.

At the opening, Internal Affairs Minister Hon. Blamoh Nelson called on the traditional leaders and chiefs to take the forum very seriously.