By Mustapha Sesay
The international development agency, ActionAid has held a one-day dialogue forum on the implementation of development plan for three local councils in the country.
The training at the Civil Service Training College in Freetown targeted Bo, Makeni and Koidu/New Sembehun city councils.
Executive Director of ActionAid Sierra Leone said they called the various local council representatives to give account of how they had been spending funds allocated to them for development purposes. Mohamed Sillah urged them to collaborate with other organisations and civil society “to foster development”.
He said that other NGOs were not placing emphasis on ward development committees but rather were more interested in ward councillors and other council officials.
He assured of his organisation’s commitment in ensuring that accountability within councils was attained, emphasising the transparent use of resources which he said was important for development. He commended all three target councils for honouring their invitation and giving account of their various councils’ activities.
Mayor of Freetown, Bode Gibson said that for decentralisation to thrive in Sierra Leone there needed to be dialogue between elected representatives and other stakeholders. He therefore lauded the efforts of ActionAid for creating such a forum, referring to it as timely. The mayor called on other organisations to do likewise “for the betterment” of the country.
Mahmud Sidi Bah, who chaired the programme, told the participants that planning was essential in every human activity because it provided a clear idea of how resources should be used to achieve good results. He further stated that in implementing any plans the idea of strategies in combating current problems and challenges should not be overlooked.
Bah commended the Bo City Council saying that despite all the challenges that faced local councils over the years, Bo had stood tall and made tremendous mark worth emulating by other councils.
The Development Officer of Bo City Council, Edward Alpha said the planning process took into account the Agenda for Prosperity. He said the development strategy was set in stages and in a participatory manner involving all heads of department in the Bo city council.
Alpha also mentioned that development would not be complete without monitoring which was why, he said, all of projects undertaken by council was evaluated and monitored at all levels to ensure the right procedure was followed.
He however highlighted “the lack of adequate finances” and the delay in the disbursements of funds to the council which he said were most times not enough for development projects.
The development officer of the Koidu/New Sembehun council, Emmanuel Sarti expressed a similar concern stating that the total amount approved for the council was Le 180 million and that only 15% of the said amount was made available. He said that the major mining company in the district did not pay property tax to the council and that other companies had threatened to revolt against payment the tax if the major diamond mining company continued to dodge payment.
The Governance Coordinator of ActionAid International SL said they particularly called the CSOs to the forum to ascertain or challenge the presentations of the three council representatives because some of the CSOs resided within these councils. Christian Lawrence called on participants to suggest ways of addressing the numerous challenges highlighted by the council.
Among some of the recommendations was that the central government should be honest in allocating funds and to do such allocations on time.
(C) Politico 10/10/13
