In February 2013, the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) launched the ‘Accountability and Citizens Participation in Local Councils’ project. Funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the project seeks to foster increased transparency and citizens’ participation in local government consistent with Sections 107 and 108 of the Local Government Act 2004. Local government administration, after a thirty-two year hiatus, was revived in 2004. Regrettably, nearly a decade after the law was promulgated, implementation of most of its key provisions, including Sections 107 and 108, remains a huge challenge. As part of the project, CARL seeks to empower citizens to demand accountability from their leaders as well as work with the relevant local councils to be more willing to disclosing information to the public. The project is implemented in the Western Urban, Western Rural, Bombali, Bo, Kenema and Pujehun Districts.
For the sake of effective delivery, CARL has partnered with reputable district-based organisations, including Movement for Restoration and Rural Democracy (MORRD) in the East, Human Empowerment and Development Foundation (HEMDeF) in the South, and the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR) in the North. The project is being implemented in the Western Area by CARL. In an environment where accountability, transparency and effective citizens’ participation are weak, any efforts at bringing about radical or even moderate changes can be quite challenging. In spite of the obvious challenges, there have been some gains. Among others, our consultative conferences helped us to fully understand the concrete steps councils are taking to address some of the perennial challenges relating to participation and transparency.
In the Western Urban District, for instance, where there was only one notice board prior to the commencement of the project, thanks in part of the project’s constant awareness raising and other efforts, the Freetown City Council has now erected thirteen notice boards that can be found in the following wards: Wards 389, 393, 370, 364, 382, 386, 369, 364, 390, 378, 360, 385 and 391. In the Western Rural District, in spite of complaints of lack of funds, noticeboards have been erected in each of the five constituencies, including Waterloo, York, Koya and Mountain Rural. In Kenema district, due to increased and sustained advocacy by our partners, both the Kenema City Council and Kenema District Council have approached IFAD to support the construction of offices in each ward and part of the plan is that each ward office will have a notice board.
Kenema town now has notice boards at the following locations: Kenema City Council office; Kenema Government Hospital; Kenema Post Office; Kenema Police Station; The Eastern Polytechnic Campus; KDEC Primary School at Moiwo Street.
For the Kenema District Council, there are still some challenges, including the lack of suitable and protected areas where these notice boards could be located without being vandalized or damaged, a fear pointed out by District Council officers.
Key areas where IFAD has constructed Ward Committee offices and where notice boards could possibly be displayed under high protection include; Ward 51 – Kandu Leppiama Chiefdom; Ward 56 – Dama Chiefdom; Ward 59 – Gaura Chiefdom; Ward 57 – Malegohun Chiefdom; Ward 48 – Simbaru Chiefdom; Ward 58 – Koya Chiefdom; Ward 35 – Nongoma Chiefdom; Ward 61 – Tunkia Chiefdom; and Ward 49 – Dodo Chiefdom.
In Pujehun District, notice boards have been erected in 19 of the 20 wards. In Bo District, nineteen (19) out of twenty-nine (29) wards now have notice boards; and Bombali District, which has been the most reluctant to adhere to the law on the erection of notice boards, now has notice boards under construction. Comparatively, there has been considerableprogress in all the six districts that this project is being rolled out. While there are still challenges in terms of disclosure of information, some councils have responded to our message and are willingness making key information available or accessible to their residents. In some ways, there has been an improvement in terms of citizens’ participation in the running of councils. Ward Development Committee elections were held in all the districts and CARL and its partners witnessed a good number of them. Monthly meetings, which were quite few and far in-between, have now become the norm rather than the exception. The project’s awareness raising efforts, including jingles and radio discussion programmes, have also been helpful. Our radio discussion programmes have also been quite helpful in fostering interaction between citizens and council officials who are regularly invited to participate in the discussion sessions. Transparency in councils has also increased as all the councils under review now have a Council Hour, a radio programme used by local councils to explain their operations to as well as give citizens the opportunity to make their input by asking questions or making recommendations.
There are still challenges, of course. It is hoped, however, that the organisation will build on these gains and help transform not only how the councils are run but also the level of public interest and participation in them.