USAID/Sierra Leone: Regional Center Provides Haven for Democratic Dialog

MAY 9, 2006

Regional Center Provides
Haven for Democratic Dialog

Newly formed councils and ward committees have a new home where citizens can meet to discuss the direction of Sierra Leone's fledgling democracy.

KOINADUGU DISTRICT -- Citizens in northern Sierra Leone now have a place to conduct the business of their fledgling democracy, thanks to a USAID-funded project aimed at strengthening local political institutions after the country's 10-year civil war.

The Regional Information and Community Center (RICC) in Kabala "is symbolic of what the whole project is about - creating public spaces for public dialog," said Francis Johnston, chief of party for Management Systems International (MSI) which, with the Christian Children's Fund (CCF), is implementing the program to strengthen democratic governance in Sierra Leone.

The RICC is intended to provide a meeting space and a resource center for citizens, including newly created ward committees, whose volunteers provide community input to the nation's elected district and town councils. Ward committees are chaired by district or town council members.

Makeni Town Council Chairman Andrew Kanu discusses the council's financial plight with U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hull.

In a recent tour of Koinadugu and Bombali districts, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hull and USAID Mission Director Jack Winn met with district council and ward committee members to gauge the nation's progress in resuscitating institutions of government after a decade of conflict. The 2004 Local Government Act gave district and town councils power to levy taxes and responsibility for schools, roads, sanitation and health facilities.

"Initially there were a lot of expectations," said Makeni Town Council Chairman Andrew Kanu, noting "promises" that were made under the Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project (IRCBP), funded by a $25 million grant from the World Bank. The project, which runs through June 2008, is intended "to establish a functioning local government system and improve inclusiveness, transparency and accountability of public resource management at the central and local council levels of government."

However, councils have faced difficulties on several fronts and, despite the many hardships faced by Sierra Leone's people since 1992, Kanu said he and his colleagues have had "to explain to people that things are not easy for the government as well."

The chief obstacle to the functioning of the councils is also the most fundamental: The local government has had difficulty collecting taxes from hard-pressed citizens and, even when successful, the council is compelled to split revenues with the paramount chiefs - traditional community leaders with familial ties to many within their chiefdoms.

Makeni's Town Council has been forced to let go 52 workers and the council members themselves have not received allowance -- a stipend intended to defray their costs of serving on the council -- for six months, Kanu said. "We are suffering, in short," he said.

In Koinadugu District, Council Chairman David F. Turay presented the ambassador with a three-year budget detailing estimated outlays for roads, education, agriculture, water and sanitation, health and community amenities. He noted, however, that "numerous reluctant taxpayers" remain to be convinced that their tax dollars will result in better services.

"Council is eager to deliver services in order to convince the people to comply with taxation," he said, "but the meager resources from the World Bank through the [IRCBP] are certainly not enough to create impact in the war-ravaged district."

'Payment of local tax' was the subject of a skit presented at the Kabala RICC.

"Payment of local tax" was the subject of a skit presented during the official commissioning of the Kabala RICC, underscoring the message that "no development will take place without taxes" and that women also should pay taxes "so we can be equal partners" in social change. The skit was organized by Search for Common Ground's Talking Drum Studio.

Following the commissioning ceremony and skit, Ambassador Hull met with a Kabala ward committee, whose members described difficulties they faced and expressed their desire for additional training in democratic processes.

Ambassador Hull likened Sierra Leone's democratic institutions to "small children: They are learning as they grow." The council must "perform so it has the confidence of the people," he said, and the populace must show support "by paying taxes and by being involved."

"Now we have an opportunity with a new experiment in democracy and development. It's very important that this experiment succeed, because so much of the future of this country depends on bringing the resources of the government down to the local level," Hull said. "This experiment is not about power - it's about people. It's about bringing benefits to the people."

Story and photos by Richard Stirba