By: Fatmata Grace Okekearu, Bo City
The National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency (NaMEA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), has engaged education stakeholders in Bo District on the implementation and importance of the Local Councils Monitoring and Evaluation Management Information System (LoMEMIS).
The one-day engagement, held on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at the Women and Youth Strengthening Conference Hall on Boima Road in Bo, was funded through the World Bank-supported Accountable Governance for Basic Service Delivery Project.
The engagement brought together key education stakeholders to discuss the purpose, operation and expected benefits of LoMEMIS, particularly its role in strengthening accountability, monitoring and service delivery within Sierra Leone’s education sector.
Speaking at the engagement, Patrick Prince Gebbeh, Deputy Director of MBSSE in Bo District, said the meeting was aimed at ensuring that education stakeholders understood the importance of implementing LoMEMIS.
He urged participants to take the initiative seriously, noting that their understanding and cooperation would be critical to its successful implementation.
Gebbeh also encouraged participants to serve as ambassadors of the initiative by sharing the knowledge gained with other education stakeholders at different levels.
Madam Regina Jebbeh Rogers, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for Education at NaMEA, explained that LoMEMIS is a World Bank-supported initiative designed to strengthen monitoring and tracking within the education sector.
She said the system would help track the supply chain of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) through local councils at district level.
According to Rogers, the digital system would capture information on the procurement, storage and distribution of teaching and learning materials through local councils.
She said the system is expected to strengthen transparency by providing government with reliable data on the movement and delivery of educational resources, from procurement to the intended beneficiaries.
Rogers stressed that LoMEMIS should not be viewed as a mechanism for targeting individuals or institutions.
Instead, she said, the system is intended to support government efforts by providing accurate and timely information to identify challenges, improve decision-making and strengthen outcomes in the education sector.
Also speaking, Amos Lansana, Operations Specialist at the Accountable Governance for Basic Service Delivery Project, highlighted the broader objectives of the project and its focus on strengthening systems for effective service delivery at the local level.
He explained that one of the project’s key pillars focuses on systems and delivery for local services, with LoMEMIS serving as a mechanism for tracking education services from the central level to local councils and ultimately to beneficiaries.
Lansana said the initiative seeks to address gaps and challenges associated with the supply and distribution of teaching and learning materials to schools.
He added that the system would also support the monitoring of other education-related services, including school feeding.
According to Lansana, NaMEA is among the implementing agencies supported by the Accountable Governance for Basic Service Delivery Project to develop and operationalize the system.
He said LoMEMIS would capture and monitor the delivery of teaching and learning materials and other education-related services through local councils to end users and beneficiaries across the country.
Lansana disclosed that the Accountable Governance for Basic Service Delivery Project is a five-year, US$40 million project that commenced in 2022 and comprises various components.
He said effective monitoring systems such as LoMEMIS are important for ensuring that resources and services intended for communities are properly tracked and delivered to their beneficiaries.
Representing local councils, Madam Vivian Sallay Senesie, Chief Administrator of the Bo District Council, said local councils had over the years been entrusted with responsibilities ranging from procurement to the distribution of services and materials within their respective communities.
She noted, however, that some of those responsibilities were subsequently withdrawn by central government.
Senesie stressed that local councils remain closest to the people and should therefore be regarded as key drivers in implementing initiatives aimed at improving service delivery at community level.
She called for continued collaboration among central government institutions, local councils and education stakeholders to ensure that the objectives of LoMEMIS are achieved.
The engagement provided participants with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of LoMEMIS and its potential role in strengthening accountability, monitoring and evidence-based decision-making in the education sector.
At the end of the engagement, education stakeholders in Bo District expressed their commitment to supporting the rollout and implementation of LoMEMIS, with the expectation that the system will improve the tracking, accountability and delivery of education services and resources to schools and beneficiaries.