Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra LeoneWARD, which like Bo is a relatively prosperous district, also has a high density of patronsExamples cited in FGDs include: 1) an MP with a degree in agriculture who supplies donorsourcedseed and technical knowledge to youth farming cooperatives; 2) a village headmanwho supports market gardening groups and has recently obtained project funding from theNational Commission for Social Action for a new market building; 3) a businesswoman andgovernment contractor who has secured funding, partly out of her personal income and partlyfrom donor sources, to build and maintain three local schools with a total enrolment of 600.As these examples indicate, WARD’s numerous interest-based associations tend to look firstto individuals with a direct connection to central government for support, not to the localcouncils.3.3 Criticisms of Local CouncillorsBecause the resources local councils currently deliver to the public are insufficient to satisfytheir needs, and because local councillors do not have the means to operate as patrons, FGDparticipants’ views on councillors tended to be negative. For example, it was argued in oneFGD in Bo District that local councillors are not given sufficient incentive to do their work.Since they are not paid salaries, they tend to concentrate on their day jobs in Bo city and arerarely seen in their wards. It was also noted that local councillors had expected to accruewealth and prestige from managing development projects and have now become disillusionedafter discovering that the regulations prevent them from implementing projects personally.In Kono, party political competition was reported to have had an adverse effect on the qualityof local councillors. The APC won many parliamentary seats in the district in 2007 and somelocal councillors have recently switched allegiance from the SLPP to the APC. FGDParticipants in Kono complained that the leading parties often give nominations to loyalistswho have no real interest in, or aptitude for, local council work. It was also claimed that somecouncillors lack the education necessary for effective monitoring complex processes like drugprocurement, and that they are in the habit of awarding contracts to family members with noconcern for quality of service. The public, participants went on, soon loses confidence incouncillors who don’t deliver on promises of development. Some SLPP councillors in Konoreportedly feel politically marginalized and have stopped visiting their wards.However, FGD participants in all districts acknowledged that the public is predisposed tothink the worst of local councillors even when there is nothing concrete upon which to basethese judgements. In WARD for example, FGD participants reported that when a localcouncillor calls a public meeting, people expect to hear about a new project. If no suchannouncement is forthcoming, they tend to lose interest in attending further meetings orsuspect that the councillor is embezzling project funds. A male youth in Makeni observed thatcouncillors often grumble that they are not given the resources they need to do their jobseffectively. Yet in his opinion, they should receive more credit for at least trying to championlocal development needs.4.3 The Political Geography of ChieftaincyWith the exception of Kono District, local views on chiefs tended to vary according tolivelihood and geographical location. For example, the remote village in Bombali District hasno access to any governance on a regular basis except that provided by chiefs and elders.When the villagers were asked whether they had ever voted in local council elections, theyreplied that they all had. The call to vote had been relayed to them from the sectionheadquarters, whose above-mentioned school also serves as the local polling station. Beforethe latest poll, the village elders had been called to a meeting in the chiefdom headquartersand shown the candidate the “big people” expected them to vote for. If the matter had beenFanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 28