The Deputy Minister of Finance, Patricia Laverley has said in Freetown that the review of the Local Government and the Decentralization Policy by government presents a unique opportunity for the country’s decentralization drive.
She made the statement at the launching of the Local Government Act and decentralization policy review at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown.
Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh who officially launched the review process on behalf of President Julius Maada Bio, stated that the attendance of stakeholders including government ministers, development partners and civil society players is indicative of the critical importance of the decentralization process in the country’s governance process.
Decentralization, the Vice President stated, is a vanguard to move the development process at the local level.
He committed government’s desire to review the stipend paid to Paramount Chiefs and added that when they move around the country they usually put their ears on the ground to listen to the concerns of Paramount Chiefs around their welfare.
He said the review process will create an opportunity for dialogue between the Paramount Chiefs and the Local Councils.
The Vice President told stakeholders that President Bio and his government are hugely committed to strengthening local governance and that such a process will speedily respond and support the Government’s Medium Term National Development Plan 2019-2023.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Tamba John Lamina, indicated that fifteen years ago, the late President, Alhaji Tejan Kabba restored Local Governance in 2004 culminating into the enactment of the Local Government Act.
This, according to him, created 19 Local Councils and as at today the country has a total of twenty-two (22) Councils.
He also said as at 2004, Sierra Leone’s population stood at three million but as of today we are over seven million.
The minister further stated that as the population expands so the changes in settlements are bound to change.
This, according to him, has increasingly necessitated the need for the review of the Local Government Act and the decentralization policy.
He said government under the leadership of President Bio is committed to complete the task set out decades ago to review the Local Government Act and the decentralization policy.
He said they will be working with international consultants provided by Government and its International partners, mainly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
He catalogued that the decisions around resources for the provision of basic social services are managed and should no longer be made by officials in Freetown.
Such changes, he continued, should be informed based on broad concessions and following a wide range of consultations in the country.
He said as a government, they believe that the review must be inclusive and it must engage key partners especially in the local governance process.
He said improving the quality of basic local services and economic development is a center pillar in the new direction action, as they are currently making effort to gather data from development partners on their various activities across the country.
Ambassador Tom Vens of the European Union stated that the EU is delighted to be part of the process.
He said the European Union’s position is cognisance of the role of decentralization to governance and inclusive economic development.
He said there cannot be governance without a system that recognizes the diversity of local needs, priorities and more importantly local actors.
“There cannot be economic development if local authorities are not empowered to deliver services to the needs and aspirations of their communities,” he concluded.
The Mayor of Freetown, Aki Sawyerr, said the Local Government Act is not just an act but it is also part of a legitimate frame work.
She said the process which started some fifteen years ago and is clearly due for review and thanked the Ministry for the launching of this review process. She committed her Council’s support to the process.
Deputy Finance Minister Announces Le3Bn. Support to Local Gov’t Strengthening & Decentralization
