Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra Leone5.4 Perceptions of Local CouncillorsTables 3.2.1 to 3.2.12 present data on public perceptions of local councillors. A majority(63.5%) of respondents reported that their local councillor lived in their neighbourhood asopposed to the district headquarters or Freetown (a common complaint against the 2004intake of local councillors was that they didn’t live locally). 40.6% of all respondentsreported that they had been called to a meeting by their local councillor (a similar score tothat shown on Table 3.1.8.), with Kono District scoring highest, followed by Bo, WARD andBombali. There were no differences between age groups in respect of reported participationin these meetings but men were more likely to participate in these meetings than women.Satisfaction with local councillors was measured by asking respondents to agree or disagreewith the statement that their councillors were doing a good job. Overall, 38% of respondentsagreed with that statement, 23.7% were neutral and 38.3 disagreed. Satisfaction withcouncillors was highest in Bo District (60.8%) and lowest in WARD (27.8%). Thecorresponding figures for Kono and Bombali were 35.3% and 27.9% respectively. Olderpeople were more likely to agree with the statement than younger ones. Males were also morelikely to agree than females. Again, we are seeing here the “SLPP effect” in Bo and theinfluence of WARD’s political and geographical proximity to Freetown.When asked whether the councillor originally elected in 2004 was re-elected in 2008, only22.9% of respondents answered in the affirmative. The rate of re-election was highest inBombali District, followed by Bo, Kono and WARD. When asked whether the currentcouncillor is doing a better, similar, or worse job than the old one, 61.4 respondents in BoDistrict and 40.6% in Bombali reported a better job. Conversely, 49.2% of respondents inWARD and 44.4% in Kono said their current councillor is doing a worse job.When respondents were asked to identify the criteria by which they judge the performance ofcurrent and former councillors, the highest scores were for personal attributes of individualcouncillors, whether they showed a commitment to local development and whether they livedand worked locally. When asked whether local councillors were more accountable to theirpolitical parties or to the local community, 39.6% of all respondents answered “localcommunity”, 31.6% answered, “political party” and 28.8% declined to give an answer.Respondents in Bo District and WARD were more inclined to answer “local community”,while those in Kono and Bombali were more inclined to answer “political party”. Theseresults are consistent with other findings suggesting that local government under oppositionparty leadership is resurgent in Bo, local councils are overshadowed by Freetown in WARD,party-political competition is relatively intense in Kono and that local councils have yet tomake an impact on the many isolated rural communities in Bombali.5.5 Perceptions of Ward Development Committees (WDCs)Tables 3.3.1 to 3.3.12 present data on public perceptions of WDCs. A majority ofrespondents (66.9%) said that they had heard about WDCs. Older people were more likely tohave heard about WDCs than younger people and men were more likely to have heard aboutthem than women.When asked whether they could name a WDC member other than the local councillor andparamount chief, 44.7% of respondents answered in the affirmative. The highest score wasagain recorded in Bo District, followed by Kono, Bombali and WARD. When asked howtheir WDC members had been chosen, 41.1% described the procedure as set out in the LGAbut 48% reported that they did not know. Most respondents reported that they had never seenFanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 36