By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
A report by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), launched last Friday, has called on government to ensure improved social services in the country.
The report singled out education, health and water and sanitation as the least funded government sectors. Only 9% of the national budget is allocated to the three sectors, it found.
Andrew Lavallie, IGR Executive Director, said the launching of the report was necessary since government had no procedure for communities to complain about “bad services.”
He added that it was also timely given that discussions and preparations for the 2016 national budget was on going.
The report, titled: ‘Rebuilding Basic Services After Ebola’, was launched at a special programme at IGR`s headquarters on Wilkinson Road in Freetown.
It`s necessary at this point to engage government to seek ways on how to improve their budgetary allocation to these sectors, Lavallie told Politico on Monday. He said most government workers were unwilling to go to remote areas and that that would not augur well for service delivery in those areas.
“Bonthe district is the most remote town in the country where government workers are not willing to go,” he said.
In the introductory part of the report, it indicates that Sierra Leone is gearing up towards its post Ebola recovery plan and that as such benchmarking the status of services will be of immense help for planning and delivery of effective social services.
The report highlights issues around the availability and quality of primary education, healthcare and water and sanitation services and provides localised information on service delivery in parliamentary constituencies and local councils.
In a bid to ensure that accurate information for the report was obtained, the researchers collected data in one hundred and eleven out of the one hundred and twelve constituencies, as well as, the nineteen local councils across the country.
In terms of education, the report notes, Bonthe District has the lowest pass rate although other districts in the country are doing well.
The report therefore underscores shortage of textbooks, overcrowding in classrooms, among others, as the key challenges affecting the sector.
These problems captured by this IGR report for the education sector are also reflected in the health and water and sanitation sectors as it indicates that only 66% of health facilities has the minimum staffing requirements
The report goes further to show that the available hospitals in the country are not offering the required services to the people and the situation is compounded by the corrupt tendencies of health workers. “…Even though there are health facilities, the quality care provided is poor…In all MP constituencies, health workers were charging fees for services rendered to pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five contrary to the free health care policy. Staff attitude was also cited as a major impediment to the use of health facilities. While some staff were reportedly rude to patients, others frequently left the stations without notice to the communities they are meant to serve,” the report reads in part.
In the water and sanitation sector, it indicates that only half of the population has access to improved drinking water. It singled out Kenema District as the one with the highest access to improved sources of drinking water, while Bonthe has the lowest.
Having exposed all the anomalies in the these three governance sectors, the report appeals to the donor community and other development partners to strengthen the service delivery capacity of government by directing more of their support through government agencies, rather than to non-governmental organizations.
“Government should be encouraged to establish accountability measures at all stages of the service delivery chain,” it adds.
IGR is a local research group that came into existence in 2013. It has a special interest in researching about governance issues. The institution became a renowned organization following the publication of a report on the postponement of the national census by government.
© Politico 02/06/15
