By Ibrahim Tommy
When the Sierra Leone Parliament passed the Local Government Act in 2004, it was meant to, among other things, enhance participation in governance, promote development, and create a space for greater voice at the basic unit of governance across the country. The Act put an end to more than 30 years of centralized system of administration, which had effectively deprived locals from taking ownership of any development programs in their communities. The legislation establishes local councils as the highest political authority in their jurisdiction, and also makes broad provisions for citizens’ participation in the administration of local councils. Articles 107 and 108 of the Act place an unconditional obligation on local councils and the Ministry of Local Government to ensure transparency and public participation in the administration of councils.
Specifically, Article 107 requires that Local Councils post statements of financial accounts, development plans, and minutes of meetings, among other pertinent documents. These postings must be placed on a notice board, in a conspicuous place on the council premises in each ward for at least twenty-one days per month. Article 108 places an obligation on the Ministry of Local Government to “promote participatory processes in local councils and encourage citizen’s inclusion and involvement in governance”. These are significant provisions, but as with many other good ideas, implementation is the key. Unfortunately, implementing the Act’s transparency and participation clauses has been lagging by local councils over the last eight years.
In 2010, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) approved a grant for a coalition of Sierra Leonean civil society organizations to monitor the implementation of the transparency and participatory provisions of the Act. Over the last eighteen months, the coalition has organised a number of dialogue sessions with councilors, council administrators, and ordinary citizens across the country to ascertain how council administrators were enforcing these provisions. The coalition also organised monitoring visits to various councils in Sierra Leone, and worked with local media and organized community outreach events to raise public awareness and elicit public opinion regarding the performance of councils. From Makeni in the North to Bo in the South, and from Kailahun in the East to Freetown in the West, the revelations and observations were predominantly the same - Council and Local Government Ministry officials have largely reneged on their legal obligations to administer the councils in ways that promote transparency and local participation.
“I did not know that there was a law which obligates the council to inform us about its activities. No councillor or Ward Committee member has ever organised a meeting in my ward. I don’t even know the councillors who represent this ward, not to talk about the Ward Committee members,” an angry woman said at a community outreach session at Kroo Bay in Freetown.
There are 19 local councils in Sierra Leone. It is regrettable that most of them have generally failed to implement the transparency obligations placed on them by Articles 107 and 108. Here are a few examples to consider: Out of the 20 Wards in the Western Rural District, only five have erected notice boards. Where there are notice boards, they are rarely updated. Also, out of the 49 Wards in the Freetown City Council (FCC), Council officials admitted that there are no more than two FCC-procured notice boards in the entire municipality. Even the two FCC-procured notice boards at its headquarters were largely plastered with obituary and vacancy announcements. At a dialogue session last year, Council officials in Kenema, Kailahun and Kono Districts admitted that there were very few notice boards in their respective jurisdictions, apart from those put up at administrative headquarters. In the same vein, there are very few radio discussion programs sponsored by the councils, and only occasional public notices about upcoming council meetings or Council-funded radio updates. In short, there is no reliable channel of communication between the people and the councils.
Council officials at these events have been typically defensive, blaming their failure to erect and update notice boards on the destructive tendencies of youths and the high level of illiteracy in their communities. Even so, given that radio is the easiest and most accessible means of communication in the country, most participants said it was incomprehensible that the councils have failed to effectively utilize the media. The information and transparency gap between the councils and the people is so large that most communities do not even know where to direct questions on issues affecting them.
There are many more challenges to ponder. Ward Development Committees, which are supposed to provide a link between the councils and the people, are either incompetent or uncommitted to the task. At every dialogue session across the country, people voiced concern that members of the Ward Development Committees (WDCs) rarely convene meetings, and have done very little to keep them posted on development issues. The selection of WDC members has been characterized by nepotism, with councillors mostly hand-picking political cronies and friends. The Local Government Ministry, which is obligated to promote participatory processes in local councils and encourage citizens’ inclusion and involvement in governance, has done very little in terms of promoting mass participation in development issues at the local level. Even where councils seek the views of the people when preparing annual development plans, residents complain that most of their felt needs have either been ignored or only partially implemented.
To make a bad matter worse, councillors and the council administrators do not get along very well in most places. Most councillors complain that they do not even know the development projects taking place in their respective wards. They accuse heads of councils of deliberately sidelining them in running the councils. There is massive distrust between councillors and the council administrators. Some administrators spoke about instances where councilors concocted minutes of meetings purportedly held at ward levels in order to claim allowances.
Nearly eight years after the Local Government Act was passed, there are several outstanding issues relating to devolution of functions to local councils. The central government has been largely reluctant to devolve functions that attract revenue and massive budgetary allocation. For instance, only 30% of central government budget was transferred to local councils in 2010. In view of the limited amount of tax revenue raised by local councils and the inadequate central government subventions, local councils face serious financial constraints. While this does not fully explain why many Sierra Leoneans are dissatisfied with the general performance of their councils, it definitely raises questions as to why the central government is reluctant to devolve key functions to local councils. At the same time, however, local councils need to think of creative ways of raising funds, as well as efficiently utilizing them.
Making development and increased participation in governance a reality in Sierra Leone was the ultimate objective of the Local Government Act. In a country where corruption in public sector remains a significant challenge, transparency and increased public participation in local government is required to offset any tendencies of wasteful spending. In 2011, the Sierra Leone Government developed a national policy on decentralization to address the anomalies for the smooth implementation of the decentralization process. The policy notes that transfer functions from central government to local councils will be concluded by the end of 2012. Once the transfer of functions is completed, it will impose greater obligation on council administrations to be transparent. It would also require more public participation in the administration of councils. For now, it is fair to suggest that the councils need to do more to foster engagement with the public.
The author is Executive Director, Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) and he wrote this article for OSIWANET
