By Mustapha Sesay
The chairman of the oversight committee on Local Government in parliament, Abubakar Koroma, has lamented attitude of the 19 local councils across the country, accusing them of treating the House committee with lack of seriousness.
MP Koroma made this statement last week while addressing representatives from the various councils. He said the councils were completely disconnected from the committee and that the relationship was hindering their work.
“The local councils have no respect for Members’ of parliament,” he stated.
The MP then revealed that they were going to embark on a new strategy that would ensure a change in attitude of the councils towards the committee.
The APC parliamentarian went on to say that President Ernest Bai Koroma was concerned over the relationship between committees in parliament and the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). This concern by the president, MP koroma said, was based on the general belief that the various committees were compromising their oversight role in dealing with the MDAs.
Another member of the committee, Dan Sesay, accused council members of “squandering” funds allocated to them for development activities within their locality.
“We will not take it lightly with any council that would be found wanting of embezzlement,” the lawmaker vowed. He added that this time around they would not only rely on the status report on papers, but that they would visit each projects site indicated on such reports.
Mohamed Tholley, another member of the committee, said if only the local councils were implementing their agricultural projects well, there would have been enough to feed the people of Sierra Leone. He also accused council members of defrauding the nation by way of implementing substandard projects that were not beneficial to the people.
Hassan Sheriff, a non-committee member MP who witnessed the committee meeting noted that government was disbursing billions of Leones to the councils but that there was not much to show for it. He cited the Kenema district council as one of the councils that has not be able to account for over Le 400m that was given to them for development activities in that part of the country. This, he said, prompted parliament to withhold subvention to the council.
Meanwhile, the Council administrator for Bo District Council, Vivian Senesis, told the committee members that they were trying to do their best but that most times, as administrators, they were faced with the challenge of political interference into their work. This, she added, was responsible for the maladministration.
Vivian assured though noted that they would try to manage the situation by implementing lawful projects irrespective of the consequences from the politicians.
© Politico 19/05/14
