By: Isatu Bai Kamara
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has launched a nationwide regional consultation on decentralisation, with the Government seeking to strengthen local councils, improve coordination among institutions and enhance service delivery across Sierra Leone.
The consultation opened in Kenema on Saturday, August 15, marking the beginning of the regional phase of an engagement process intended to gather views from communities, local councils and other stakeholders on challenges affecting local governance.
Addressing participants, Vice President Jalloh said the Government’s approach was centred on listening to citizens and institutions directly involved in the decentralisation process.
“We are here to listen to your concerns and questions,” he said, stressing that the consultations were intended to provide a platform for open and constructive dialogue.
The Vice President emphasised that the exercise was not a political gathering, but an opportunity to identify practical challenges and develop workable solutions to improve the functioning of the decentralisation system.
According to him, the views and recommendations emerging from the consultations would help guide the Government’s next steps, including policy decisions, Cabinet-level discussions and, where necessary, legislative reforms.
A key development at the Kenema engagement was the inauguration of the Regional Coordination Committee, which is expected to strengthen collaboration among institutions responsible for local governance and create a more coordinated mechanism for addressing challenges within the decentralisation system.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs Alfred Moi Jamiru called for stronger and more capable local councils, noting that effective decentralised governance is critical to bringing public services closer to citizens.
He highlighted the importance of building institutional capacity and ensuring that local councils are adequately equipped to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.
The Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Dr Falla D. Lamin, similarly stressed the importance of strengthening institutions and improving coordination across the local governance framework.
Participants at the consultation welcomed the decision to engage communities directly, describing the process as an important opportunity for citizens and local institutions to present their experiences, identify persistent challenges and contribute to shaping reforms.
The Kenema consultation forms part of a wider nationwide engagement on decentralisation. Further regional consultations are expected to be held in the Northern and North-Eastern regions, following earlier engagements conducted in Freetown.
The Government is expected to use the outcome of the consultations to inform reforms aimed at making local governance more effective, accountable and responsive.
The initiative comes as authorities seek to deepen decentralisation and improve the relationship between central government, local councils and communities, with the broader objective of ensuring that governance and public services are delivered more efficiently at the local level.