By: Saidu Jalloh
The Director General of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Ing. Alfred Jalil Momodu has urged civil society organizations (CSOs), district budget supervisors and other stakeholders to actively monitor government-funded road projects and follow up on public spending.
Momodu made the call during the SLRA’s FY2027 budget presentation, where he urged stakeholders to go beyond attending annual budget hearings and take greater responsibility for monitoring the implementation of projects and commitments presented by the Authority.
He said closer engagement among institutions and stakeholders involved in road development would help identify the reasons for delays, non-implementation and other challenges affecting road projects across the country.
“Year after year we are coming here. This should not be a mere presentation and after which we are gone and the SLRA is left to do the work,” Momodu said.
The SLRA Director General noted that public criticism often focuses on the Authority when roads deteriorate, projects are delayed or construction activities do not progress as expected, while wider financial, administrative and institutional factors may receive less attention.
He cited instances where roads are publicly described as “death traps” and where people construct structures along roads and infrastructure corridors despite significant public resources having been invested in those areas.
Momodu called on CSOs and other stakeholders to broaden their oversight by examining the various processes and institutions involved in planning, financing, implementing and maintaining road infrastructure.
He specifically urged stakeholders to engage the SLRA, Ministry of Finance, Road Maintenance Fund and, where necessary, the Ministry of Parks to better understand the challenges affecting specific projects.
According to him, such engagement would provide stakeholders with a clearer understanding of why some projects are not implemented within the timelines initially presented.
He cited the Moyamba Road as an example, saying stakeholders could have followed up with the relevant institutions during the implementation period to establish the challenges affecting the project, rather than returning a year later to highlight that an earlier commitment had not been fulfilled.
Momodu also called for stronger collaboration between district budget supervisors, the SLRA and the Ministry of Finance to help identify financial, administrative and implementation bottlenecks affecting road projects.
“Then we’ll know what the challenges are,” he said.
The SLRA Director General further cautioned that Sierra Leone is operating in a highly constrained fiscal environment, which affects the government’s ability to finance the country’s extensive infrastructure needs.
Describing the fiscal environment as “harsh as a nuclear environment,” he said the financial constraints facing government should be considered when assessing the pace and scope of road development programmes.
Despite the challenges, Momodu reaffirmed the importance of road infrastructure to national development, describing roads as the “bedrock of this country’s development.”
He said the SLRA’s FY2027 budget presentation would provide stakeholders with information on the Authority’s plans, priorities and resource requirements, while also addressing issues likely to arise during the engagement.
Momodu’s intervention placed greater emphasis on shared accountability, monitoring and sustained stakeholder engagement in the implementation of road projects.
He urged government institutions, CSOs, district stakeholders and other actors to work together to monitor projects and follow public investments from budget allocation through implementation to completion.