Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra Leonedecentralization in Sierra Leone and what measures need to be taken to strengthen one or theother or both.The qualitative data indicates that local councils have been effective in deliveringunprecedented development when directly sourcing funds from donors for specific projects(the school science laboratories in Makeni are a case in point). It is possible, however, thatprojects of this kind would have been implemented by other agencies in the absence of thecouncils. Some councils are beginning to apply to donors for project funds on their owninitiative (the EU-supported water and sanitation projects in Bo is a case in point) and this isan area where locally generated knowledge of development needs can begin to make adifference.Ironically perhaps, it is the councils’ lack of power and discretionary control over resourcesthat is driving the innovations seen in Bo and the determination of councillors across thecountry (particularly women councillors) to champion the development needs of their wards.We are seeing here the fragile beginnings of a new ethos of local government in Sierra Leone.At present, the councils’ honest intent to deliver development and services seems to bewinning them as much popular support as the benefits they are actually delivering.Consequently, if a unique development dividend has emerged from the first seven years ofdecentralization it is more cultural than material.The change management culture some commentators detected among the young technocratsof DecSec and the LGFD may not survive the winding up of the IRCBP. However“champions of change” may still emerge from other sources. As we have seen, one of theAPC council chairmen interviewed by the Research Team was scathingly critical about theconservative turn in recent government policy towards local government (especially thereintroduction of District Officers) and vowed to campaign at the highest level for fresherthinking when his term of office ends. Sierra Leoneans with formative political andadministrative experiences in post-war local government have yet to make an appearance onthe national stage. It is too early to predict whether this group will make an impact onnational politics, but their future capacity to influence domestic policy on local government iscertainly something to be taken into consideration by donors as they re-evaluate their supportfor decentralization.Another source of change management culture is the devolved MDAs. Devolved MDA staff,particularly in health, value the autonomy gained by working away from ministerialheadquarters and having a guaranteed budget that is not affected by short term politicalinterests. While there are problems in the relationship between the local councils and theMDAs, there is no doubt of the commitment of many devolved MDA staff to decentralization(or more precisely, to de-concentration as guaranteed by political decentralization).D. To what degree have established local power networks – particularly chiefs – beenaffected by the establishment of local councils?When decentralization began, donors were inclined view chiefs as an entrenched “feudal”elite, predisposed to capture resources from the local councils. However, a distinction mustbe made between the lower ranking chiefs, the vast majority of whom are socially embeddedin the villages and neighbourhoods in which they exercise governance, and paramount chiefswho exercise executive, administrative and judicial powers as state agents. Power networksinvolving paramount chiefs are invariably linked to the centre.Fanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 45