March 16, 2021
By Aruna Kamara (BO)
The Regional Convener of the Civil Society Forum in the Southern Region.Mustapha Kpaka has called on the government to ensure effective service delivery by the local councils across the country.
He told this medium that the government needs to do more for the people of the country as they voted in President Julius Maada Bio based on his Manifesto to deliver quality service.
Mr. Kpaka said that there is not much commitment to the decentralization by the Bio administration, adding that “if you go to the rural areas much is not done in terms of service delivery.”
He therefore rated Bio commitment to decentralization as 30% and advanced reasons for his rating based on late delivery of budgetary allocation to the local councils.
This late delivery of funds for the devolved functions, according to the civil society activist, is responsible for the poor services delivery by the local council, adding that for instance if funds for agriculture is not coming on time how can the farmers be given the boost to prepare ahead of the planting season.
He went on to say that the government needs to be serious about the decentralization process, pointing out that the late delivery of funds is not only happening during the SLPP led government with President Bio at the helm of affairs but was also evident during the former President Koroma APC government.
Mr. Kpaka said that the 2004 Local Government Act spoke about effective service delivery at the local level but he noted this is not happening to satisfaction of the people.
‘’ Well we are aware about the increase in the salary of mayors, chairman and the paramount chiefs but this is not enough as we need more from the Government,’’ he said.
A resident of Lugbu Chiefdom in Bo, Joseph Brima told this Medium that they voted for president Bio to ensure that he can effectively empower the council so that the services from the central government will reach them in their deprived communities.
Brima said that he is however impressed with the Free and quality education but questioned when the school fees subsidy are coming late, can the teachers teach effectively?
He added that it was good news that the government has paid the school subsidy but the late delivery of budgetary allocation to Ministry Department and Agencies must be worked on.
Another resident of Bumpeh Chiefdom in Bo District, Alusine kposowa, said that their councilors have been bitterly grumbling about delay by the government to give them their funds to embark on development. He however noted that delayed disbursement should not be an excuse as they are paying their taxes but development is not visible in their deprived communities.
The Chairman of the Bo District Council who doubles as the President of the Local Council Association of Sierra Leone, Joseph Munda Bindi confirmed to this medium that budgetary allocation to the local council comes late.
He however praised President Bio for the allocation of the funds to be used by the Councils and made commitment to the people of Bo that the funds that will serve as a source of revenue to be used by the Bo District Council to ensure that quality services are delivered.
Chairman Bindi urged the People of Bo district and the country as a whole to pay their taxes to complement the effort of the central government for effective service delivery at local level to enhance national development.
A resident at Baima Road in Bo, Sulaiman Jalloh said that the council and the Sierra Leone Roads Authority need to focus on the roads in Bo City, especially the Baima Road that is a in bad shape. He stated that vehicles get stuck along the road, especially during the raining season.
However, the Management of the Bo City Council has said that the Baima Road is among of the roads that will benefit from the road maintenance funds.
At a retreat for local councils designed to look at their challenges and opportunities, the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh who doubles as the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Decentralization said that “President Julius Maada Bio’s government is determined to deliver on effective decentralization as he believes that human capital development agenda will be realized if there is effective local governance.
He had reassured that the local council can be used as a vehicle to deliver effective service delivery around health, education, food security, among others.
The Vice President had pointed out that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has come to the realization that they have to embark on a lot of institutional and policy reforms that will enable it have the architecture to drive the transformation and modernization of local governance to be better responsive to local needs.