Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra Leoneschools, slaughterhouses, cemeteries and other necessary amenities are optimally located. Themain constraint here is the BCC’s current lack of authority to implement urban planning. TheLocal Government (Assumption of Functions) Regulations of 2004 only devolve “datacollection” in respect of land use and strategic planning to local councils. Furthermore, theauthority to issue building permits, also identified as a function to be devolved in theRegulations, has yet to be ceded to local councils by the Ministry of Lands, Country Planningand the Environment. The BCC Mayor and Chief Administrator reported that they have foundit possible to make planning decisions through negotiation with the Lands Ministry, the Boarea paramount chief and local landowners. However, their fear was that when DistrictOfficers return they will invoke their historic powers of adjudication over land and boundarydisputes to intervene in these already complex negotiations and, quite possibly, disrupt them.Another case in point is Bo District Council’s use of the internet to make direct applicationsfor donor funding. These efforts have recently borne fruit in the form of an EU-supportedwater and sanitation project. Furthermore, the council has recently pooled funds from thecapacity building components of several project grants to develop a local amenities databasethat records the location and condition of all schools, clinics, water wells and water pumps inBo District. The database uses software developed by a Canadian volunteer who hadpreviously been working with urban councils on the computerization of property cadastres.As far as Bo District Council is concerned, the significance of this initiative is twofold. First,it enables the council to win wider public recognition as a service delivery and planningauthority; second, it encourages development NGOs working in the district to consult withthe council and align their work to council development plans. 5With the SLPP in opposition nationally, the SLPP-led councils are clearly seeking to restorethe political fortunes of the party through optimal performance in local government. A pointmade by councillors in Bo was that the APC administration in Freetown would never allowlocal government to control resources to such an extent that they became more popular thancentral government. But that constraint only encourages them to explore the politicalpossibilities of rational-bureaucratic best practice. 6 As one SLPP councillor pointed out:“there is a reason why we work. We won’t just leave things, sit down and say we are not thegovernment in Bo. As we are in opposition that (i.e. working hard) will make us come out ofopposition and become the leading agency. By working hard you can do something for yourpeople to bring development”.As far as the promotion of bureaucratic rationality is concerned, local councils have potentialallies in devolved MDA staff. Resisting payroll devolution ensures that line ministries cantreat local councils as little more than disbursement agencies. However, senior MDA staffinterviewed by the research team were generally enthusiastic about decentralization (orrather, de-concentration as guaranteed by decentralization) on the grounds that it channelsunprecedented volumes of resources to their sectors and gives them greater autonomy inadministrative decision-making. For example, the Deputy Director of Education in Konodescribed the relationship between his department and the two local councils as a productiveone. The department agrees activity plans with the councils and these are incorporated intodistrict development plans. A dedicated funding stream ensures that education department5 The research team was shown the education section of this database, which left a soberingimpression given that Bo is one of Sierra Leone’s more prosperous provincial districts. According tothe database, 57% of all teachers in Bo District are unqualified, 39% do not receive salaries and only14% are female.6 i.e. governance as a technical endeavour, impersonally discharged.Fanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 23