By Abdulai Fasineh Dumbuya
Universal, Sustainable, Inclusive Design for Social Change (USID) funded project known as BASED - Building Accountability System and Empowerment - is to support Councils in revenue generation and building systems and structures, to the tune of $3.6m in three years, according to Abu Bakarr Kamara- Coordinator of Budget Advocacy Network (BAN).
In a media interview on May 7, 2024, Kamara said the BASED project which is divided into three areas namely peace and co-existence, project accountability, and revenue generation will benefit councils.
He said the first phase of the project, targeting six councils across the country, will be rolled out by five organizations headed by the Institute of Governance Reform (IGR). Other participatory organizations are BAN, Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), Independent Radio Network (IRN), and 50-50 Group.
“On the whole, the entire project is about peace, accountability, and revenue generation. Peace is crucial to this project because it was designed even before the elections, so peace has been part of it all. And accountability is also key among other essential elements in the programme,” he said.
As a result of limited resources, he said they could not target all the councils but rather looked at six-Karene, Falaba, Moyamba, Tonkolili, Kono, and Western Area Urban. He stated that Karene and Falaba are new districts in need of so much support in terms of revenue generation to build systems and structures that would meet the required services expected of them.
In the area of revenue generation, he said it is comparatively low to the potential the councils have, saying they will provide advice as well as intervene to rectify bigger areas from which the councils can generate enough revenue, such as property rates.
He said councils need structures that would align them to the objectives required to generate revenue, build public trust, and ensure confidence in the people so that they cannot depend on central government for revenue.
On the issue of enforcing transparency and accountability between councils and their people, he said as part of the project they will conduct a task perception survey to establish an in-depth understanding of why citizens do not trust their councils and what mechanisms and framework they will provide the councils.
“Our primary focus is to advocate resources for the councils so that they can deliver on the required services the people need in a transparent and accountable manner,” she said.
He acknowledged the constraints the councils experience in terms of providing services to their people, saying inadequate resources is a key challenge since the resources the government usually allocates to the councils are not enough to provide the needed services of their people.
BAN promotes transparency, accountability, and participation in the public financial management system in Sierra Leone. The ultimate goal of BAN is to have a social forum that advocates on issues of equity and social justice for the people.
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