| Summary: |
n 2004, the government of Sierra Leone opted for a rethink of its national governance
arrangement by embarking on the resuscitation of democratically elected local
government after 32 years experimenting with central government appointed district
and municipal governments. The decision by the government and the people of Sierra
Leone was driven by a primary consideration to address the country’s seeming nonperformance
in the areas of citizens’ participation in governance and responding to the
needs of citizens as it relates to attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) as well as ensuring poverty reduction in the country.
The process of reintroducing the current and ongoing National Decentralization
Program in the country assumed a partnership model involving the government of
Sierra Leone, development partners and a host of national nonstate actors, especially
civil society organizations. The path that was taken involved consultations and
consensus building among the stakeholders on the design, structures and systems
which culminated in the development of a comprehensive legislation—the Local
Government Act (2004).
Since the commencement of the implementation of the “big bang†approach to the
Decentralization Program in Sierra Leone, there has been a well planned mechanism
for advancing the process in the political, administrative, functional, and fiscal areas.
There has been a record of marked results, in particular, establishment of 19 local
government entities in the country; two consecutive local government elections
conducted in 2004 and 2008; and facilitation of a comprehensive national devolution
program leading to core functions and responsibilities in health, education and
agriculture being devolved to the local authorities with the attendant fiscal resources to
assume and execute such responsibilities
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