USAID/Sierra Leone: Council 'Coaches' Advance Democratic Principles

AUGUST 21, 2006

Council 'Coaches' Advance
Democratic Principles

Coaches who work with five district and town councils recently participated in workshop to improve their collaborative efforts with their counterparts from Management Systems International, a USAID-funded partner.

FREETOWN - Sierra Leone's locally elected representatives are getting support in their efforts to restore democratic governance through the collaboration of USAID-funded District Participation Coordinators (DPC) and a cadre of "coaches" appointed by the country's Decentralization Secretariat.

Since their election in 2004, members of five Town Councils and 13 District Councils have faced the daunting task of reestablishing local governments in the wake of a 10-year civil conflict that devastated the nation's populace and leveled much of its infrastructure.

The council coaches are charged with ensuring that local councils adhere to the Local Government Act of 2004 (sometimes referred to as the "green bible" after the color its cover), which was enacted in March 2004 to provide for "the decentralization and devolution of functions, powers and services to local councils."

A few of the participants who took part in a training working on local council systems recently in Freetown

A few of the participants who took part in a training workshop on local council systems recently in Freetown.

In a recent training workshop here sponsored by Management Systems International, a USAID-funded partner, the DPCs and council coaches from districts in Kailahun, Kenema, Koidu/New Sembehun, Koinadug and Kono discussed past successes and challenges ahead for the 12-member councils.

Among the major challenges facing the councils, which the act charges with "promoting the development of the locality and the welfare of the people," are revenue collection, staff hiring and, in large measure, basic communication with a largely rural and illiterate population.

Local governance also is complicated by the council's interaction with the Paramount Chiefs - traditional leaders who wield considerable influence over land use in rural areas and to whom the councils are obligated to contribute 60 percent of local tax revenues they collect.

Since its inception, for example, the Koinadugu District Council has built two slaughterhouses and a butcher's shop, mechanized three water wells, and installed public notice boards where meeting schedules and minutes are required to be posted, according to Beatrice Serry, the Koinadugu council coach.

Because tax revenues have been meager, however, these projects were funded by the World Bank and other donors with a "rapid results approach" so the council could demonstrate its value and relevance to the community, Serry said.

Projects in the Kono District, including three community markets and two community centers, "let people see that council is doing something, so they will have confidence," said council coach Michael Bockarie.

Other challenges beset the councils as they resurrect Sierra Leone's local government.

The council's evolution is a "learning process" that is evolving slowly because of the lack of "competent people who can actually do the work," said Miatta M'Bayo, the coach for Koidu/New Sembehun Town Council. "The council can't afford to hire qualified people."

The council coaches and DPCs agreed that the workshop "is building confidence and strengthening collaboration" among the supporters of local government.

"We have come to know each other more closely," said Elizabeth Jalloh, MSI's monitoring and evaluation specialist. And when it comes to working with council and ward leaders, she said, "we'll also be sending the same messages."

Story and photo by Richard Stirba