Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra LeoneTo some degree, the differences between the census data and the survey sample may reflectthe fact that in 2004, Sierra Leone was still in the early stages of recovery from a devastatingcivil war and that education and wage employment has expanded rapidly since them. But themost likely explanation for the skewed results of the survey are: a) the vast majority of poorfarmers are scattered in off-road villages that are difficult for a small team of researchers withlimited time and budget to access; b) researchers may favour (not necessarily deliberately)informants who are most comfortable responding to questionnaire surveys.On the plus side, the sample is skewed towards those members of the provincial populationwho are most likely to have had first-hand experience of local council activities and thus tohave formed an opinion about them. On the minus side, relatively well educated andprosperous members of the population are more likely than the rural and urban poor to haveprofessional and political connections to the centre and a relaxed view of chieftaincy. Ratherthan add statistical weightings to the sample, the following analysis of the survey results isundertaken with these caveats in mind.5.2 General Perceptions of Development and Service ProvidersWhen respondents were asked which political authority has brought the most development tothe locality (Table 2.1.1), local councils received the greatest credit with a 39.9% score.Regional differences were nevertheless noticeable. Central government scored highly inWARD (45%), the closest rural area to Freetown. MPs also scored highly in WARD (23.8%),but this was due in part to the presence of a very popular and hard working parliamentarian inone of the sample areas. Local councils scored highly in Bo District (55.6%), which mayreflect the recent efforts of SLPP-led councils to rebuild the party’s political popularitythrough good performance in local government (See above, Section 3.2). Local councilsoutscored traditional authorities by a considerable margin in Bombali district (50.6% to14.9%), which is the least urbanized and prosperous of the four survey districts. Traditionalauthorities scored comparatively highly in Kono District (34.7%), which reflects chiefs’historical pre-eminence in diamond governanceWhen the age and gender of respondents was taken into consideration (Tables 2.1.2 and2.1.3), it was found that younger people tended to credit central government with the bestdevelopment performance while older people gave greater credit to local councils andtraditional authorities. Women, on the other hand, tended to give greater credit than men tolocal authorities as development providers. A possible explanation for these differences isthat young people are the most interested in jobs, men are the most interested in nationalpolitics and women are the most interested in local services.A slightly different pattern emerged when respondents were asked which political authoritythey looked to first for development, regardless of actual performance (Table 2.1.4). Again,local councillors scored highly in Bo District (64.1%) and comparatively highly in WARD(35.1%), despite the relatively high score of MPs (23.8%) for reasons given in the lastparagraph. Interestingly, chiefs scored highest of all political authorities in Bombali District(49.3%), despite the fact that local councils outscored them in reported delivery of services(Table 2.1.1). This last result probably reflects a problem of access to local services in remoterural areas rather than low satisfaction with local councils. Chiefs again scored highly inKono (56.7%) and WDC members received low scores in all districts.Younger people were again more likely than older people to look to central governmentfigures (and chiefs) for development. Women were also more likely than men to look toFanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 34