By Mohamed Fofanah.
The Vice President, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on Friday engaged Civil Society Organizations as part of the Government’s continued engagements with citizens to deepen decentralization of governance activities for effective service delivery to the people.
Speaking at the Port Loko District Council, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh said the Government has invested massively in human capital development, noting that the essence for devolving some functions of the Central Government is for local councils to be able to generate revenues for themselves and reduce their dependence on the Central Government.
Dr Jalloh said the Government of Sierra Leone has done a phenomenal job in the last three years by increasing its expenditure on Education to 22 percent, paying school fees for about 2.6 million kids across the country, and also providing transportation for them.
He said the Government’s investment in Agriculture is to make the sector an economic engine for the country to reduce its dependence on food importation, as prices of commodities keep soaring even when taxes are removed from their importation.
He said CSOs should be able to unravel the intricacies around revenue generation and implored them to help measure the effectiveness of service delivery, saying it is the kind of partnership the Government wants from them. He said good governance is the only route to democracy.
Civil Society representative, Foday Bassie Swaray said Government and CSOs dialogue has provided the enabling environment for them to strive to foster democratic good governance which he described as a tenet of democracy.
The Executive Director of ActionAid said there is a need to restructure the local council setup to enhance effective service delivery. He said the late disbursement of funds from the Central Government to local councils affects effective service delivery, amidst some devolved functions still heavily centralized.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Tamba Lamina said the Ministry has tabled in Parliament a new Local Government Bill 2021, and established a Decentralization Policy for the devolution of local service deliveries, to promote local development.
The Acting Head of Cooperation of the European Union to Sierra Leone, Serena Bertaina said the EU welcomed the Government/CSOs dialogue because it translates into action the commitment made by HE President Julius Maada Bio to enhance consultation of and collaboration with Civil Society Organisations in addressing critical governance and developmental issues, which affects Sierra Leone, and brings under the spotlight the critical importance of decentralization to ensure effective public service delivery to the people.
Bertaina said it takes leadership to rethink and take affirmative action to reinvigorate the state-society social contract, and wisdom and long-term vision to strengthen devolution to truly decentralize authority and resources, and make the District Councils a reliable point of reference for citizens.
She said when local people plan their affairs and have the power to determine how to develop their communities, development not only happens but is owned, preserved, and sustained, adding that local efforts toward development contribute to the welfare and social cohesion of the entire nation.
The President of the Local Councils Association of Sierra Leone, Joseph Munda Bindi of Bo said there are no clear fiscal policies to enhance local revenue generation for local councils as the devolved staffs do not disclose to councils other funding they receive either from the Central Government or from donors.
