By Nasratu Kargbo
Eight of Sierra Leone's 16 geopolitical districts have prioritized the hike in prices as a major concern for them and have listed it as a policy priority; according to the Citizen’s Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey conducted by the Institute of Governance and Reform (IGR) and sponsored by Irish Aid.
IGR’s Research and Policy Director Fredline M’Comack- Hale in her PowerPoint presentation of the survey’s report in Freetown displayed two priority areas for each of the country’s 16 districts, with eight stressing their desire for prices of goods to go down.
Residents of Moyamba District topped the other district with 54% of its people that were interviewed complaining about the skyrocketing prices. Kailahun district followed with 38%, whilst Bo recorded 32% and Bombali 30% also.
Citizens in the districts of Karene, Koinadugu, Tonkolili, and Pujehun also highlighted pricing as one of their major concerns.
Demand for good roads was another top priority, with eight districts, and remarkably 81% of people interviewed in Falaba district, highlighting the necessity for good roads.
54% of the respondents in Kenema also listed road as a priority. Similar need was expressed for Kono-39% Moyamba-30% Port Loko- 28%, Bombali-22% , Kailahun-16% and Western Urban -16%.
Five districts stated health as one of their priority areas with Bonthe leading with 34% followed by Koinadugu with 28%. Kambia-26%, Port Loko-20%, and Kenema-13% also want a better health system.
Speaking on national statistics on the ten priority areas, M’Comack- Hale explained that overall when they asked the twenty-four hundred respondents about the burning issues that they care about, good roads ranked top at 24.9%. Water was second with 20% and closely followed by keeping prices down at 19.7%.
Also overall, health care got 11.0%, whilst those who named food availability and accessibility as their concern summed up to 9.0% of the population surveyed. Education, electricity, transportation, governance, and jobs got 5.4%, 4.9%, 1.9%, 1.6%, and 1.3% respectively.
The Policy Director stated that priorities are influenced by time and place, citing that if the survey was conducted in the rainy season, the people might not have placed water as a top priority.
The Executive Director of IGR Andrew Lavali said that the objective of the citizens’ manifesto is to make sure that what the people want is featured in political parties’ manifestoes, to ensure that the election is policy-driven.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (29/03/23)
