By Politico staff writer
In order to ensure effective leadership in local councils across Sierra Leone, Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh and officials of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA) have engaged the Chief Administrators of the 22 Local Councils on their operations.
He urged them to step up on service delivery in their respective communities until Mayors, chairpersons, and councilors are elected.
The Chief Administrators took over leadership of the councils on the 1st of March this year after the Ministry of Local Government asked all Mayors, Chairpersons, and councilors to step aside from their respective Councils to mark the end of their tenure and handover to the Chief Administrators.
Highlighting the purpose of the engagement, Melrose Karminty, the Deputy Minister of MLGCA, stated that the meeting was to understand the activity plans of the Chief Administrators during the few months that they would be running the affairs of the Councils without political leaders and to also get the handing over notes of the political leaders that have stepped aside which would serve as a guide to those that will be coming after the elections.
She also said that the meeting would be used to guide the CAs on how to improve their performances in the next few months in their respective Councils. She emphasized the importance of such engagement to the central Government.
In his address, the Vice President who doubles as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Local Governance said the engagement was an experience-sharing meeting since the CAs had worked with political leaders for years and they are now acting in both capacities as heads of administration and political leaders, adding that he and the Ministry wanted to know how the CAs had been running the Councils without political leaders.
He said previously when political leaders of Local Councils stepped aside from their positions, accountability and service delivery come to an end.
"Our Government cannot allow the period of departure to the post elections period of reinstatement to become a time wherein nobody looks after the Councils. In most cases, the Chief Administrators would become so corrupt that they would not account for funds that are utilized or either embark on any service delivery,” he said.
He added “That should not be the case. As Administrators, you should be in charge of the effective running of the Councils during the elections period," he cautioned.
He emphasized that since the political leaders are no longer in the Councils, the Government is expecting to see effective operations of all the Councils where services will be fully delivered to the people, adding that the Ministry is going to start robust monitoring of the 22 Councils to ensure that effective work is ongoing even during the elections period.
He suggested that the composition of Chief Administrators should contain 30% of women as enshrined in the law books of Sierra Leone.
In his closing remarks, the Minister of Local Government Amb. Tamba Lamina encouraged the CAs to treat their staff equally without discrimination or favour. He also talked about the need for consultative leadership and quality representation of their Councils.
He ended by entreating them to stay away from politics and focus on service delivery and that punitive actions would be taken against any CA who failed to stick to the rules and regulations that govern the day-to-day activities of the Councils.
All 22 CAs later presented their Action Plans which were reviewed by the stakeholders present.
Copyright (c) 2023 (31/03/23)
