Decentralization in Sierra Leone - Research for Development

Decentralization in Sierra Leonetrump cards over local councils: first, he was the custodian of the land in his chiefdom and sono council project could be initiated there without his authorization; second, local councillorsfaced election every four years while he held office for life.Parallel rivalries have also emerged among central agencies responsible for management andoversight of local government. The IRCPB recruited most of its national staff from a youngergeneration of professionals with previous experience in post-war reconstruction, whether theNGO sector or donor-funded governance reform units. Highly qualified Sierra Leoneanprofessionals have also been recruited by the Ministry of Finance in recent years. The abovenotedWorld Bank retrospective argues that it was the “synergies” between national andinternational project staff, and between IRCBP management units (all of which wereoriginally located in the same office buildings) and the Ministry of Finance, which propelledthe decentralization programme forward in its early years (Zhou, 2009).However, the mainstream civil service has never been part of this change managementculture. Devolution of functions has been painfully slow. The Director of DecSec observed ata public conference marking the closure of the IRCBP in June 2011 that a little over thirty ofthe 80 functions originally scheduled for devolution in 2004 had yet to be devolved fromtheir parent ministries. The civil servants in the Ministry of Local Government have also beenextremely protective of the old chains of authority leading down to the chiefs. While thecolonially-inherited post of District Officer (formerly, District Commissioner) wasdiscontinued when the decentralization programme began in 2004, many of theresponsibilities functions attached to this post were transferred upwards to the ProvincialSecretaries. According to a Ministerial directive obtained by the Drivers of Change team in2005, the post-decentralization duties of Provincial Secretaries include: Administrative head of Province with oversight responsibility for the functions ofgovernment ministries/departments that are not devolved under the LGA.Provide secretariat services for the Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC).Liaise with other members of the PCC to ensure that: a) activities of localcouncils in the province are coordinated and b) local councils collaborate for theeffective execution of development programmes in which the councils are jointlyinterested.Supervise and coordinate chiefdom activities relating to the maintenance of lawand order.Preside over the election of paramount chiefs, section chiefs and town chiefs andall processes leading thereto.Adjudicate land and boundary disputes in the Province, especially chiefdom bushdisputes and district boundary disputes.These provisions, particularly the last three, are testament to the fact that the local councilswere never actually allowed to operate as the highest political authorities in their localities,whatever the LGA might state. The Provinces Act (Cap 60 of the Laws of Sierra Leone,1960, amended in 1965) is the main repository of central government’s powers overchieftaincy affairs. This Act, originally drafted in 1933, identifies numerous fields of localgovernance (e.g. tax collection, the conduct of chiefs and land disputes) in which DistrictOfficers may issue direct orders, initiate inquiries and perform binding arbitrations. Eventoday, no chief of any rank is secure in their appointment until their name appears in thegovernment gazette. It has always been the central executive, not the judiciary, which servesas the final arbiter in disputes over the revision of Chiefdom Council lists and the eligibilityFanthorpe Consultancy Ltd Page 56