Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, has concluded the Government’s regional decentralization tour in his home district of Port Loko, following nationwide consultations aimed at strengthening local governance, improving service delivery and bringing decision-making closer to communities.
Concluding the exercise on Saturday, September 5, 2026, the Vice President said the engagements provided Government with an opportunity to hear directly from traditional authorities, district representatives and local council leaders about challenges affecting governance and service delivery.
“I concluded my regional decentralization tour in my home district of Port Loko. Across the country, we heard directly from traditional, district and local council leaders about the challenges affecting local governance and service delivery. Thanks to all participants,” he said.
During the engagements, Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh also announced plans by the Government to recruit about 800 Native Administrative Officers nationwide as part of efforts to strengthen administrative capacity, security presence and governance across the country’s chiefdoms.
The announcement forms part of a broader Government effort to strengthen grassroots institutions and ensure communities benefit more directly from national development policies.
The Vice President led the second leg of the Government’s Regional Decentralization Tour to Makeni and Port Loko, where he engaged traditional authorities, local councils, district representatives and other stakeholders on challenges confronting decentralization.
“A Government closer to the people is a Government that works,” Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh said ahead of the engagements.
He added: “I’ll be engaging directly with traditional, district and local council leaders to ensure national policy delivers local impact.”
The Makeni and Port Loko consultations followed the first leg of the tour held in Kenema and Bo on August 14 and 15, 2026, respectively. Those engagements brought together Paramount Chiefs, local councils, Ministers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, development partners and representatives from critical sectors.
The nationwide consultations examined longstanding challenges affecting Sierra Leone’s decentralization programme, including inadequate financing, weak institutional capacity, limited revenue mobilization, coordination gaps between central and local authorities and the incomplete transfer of responsibilities to councils.
During the Kenema engagement, Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh stressed that the consultations were primarily intended to allow Government to listen to local authorities rather than impose solutions from Freetown.
“This is not a meeting where we come to tell you what to do. It is a learning process. We are here to listen to the challenges of local governance,” he stated.
According to the Vice President, recommendations from the consultations could inform Government policy, Cabinet decisions and, where necessary, legislative reforms designed to strengthen the country’s decentralization framework.
A major focus of the discussions was the ability of local councils to effectively deliver essential public services. Councils face increasing responsibilities in healthcare, education, sanitation, waste management, agriculture, roads, markets, drainage, land administration and social welfare.
Government officials acknowledged that transferring additional responsibilities to councils without adequate financial, technical and logistical resources could undermine the effectiveness of decentralization.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs, Alfred Moi Jamiru, consequently called for greater investment in local councils, arguing that stronger institutional capacity is essential for councils to effectively discharge their responsibilities.
Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Dr. Falla D. Lamin, similarly emphasized the importance of competent personnel, improved coordination and stronger institutions in building an effective local Government system.
Regional Coordination Committees were also inaugurated during the Kenema and Bo consultations to strengthen collaboration among institutions and establish mechanisms for addressing decentralization challenges at the regional level.
The consultations further examined relations among traditional authorities, local councils and Central Government, with emphasis on clearly defining responsibilities, resources and institutional authority to reduce duplication and improve accountability.
More than two decades after Sierra Leone restored elected local Government, decentralization remains central to efforts to bring governance and development closer to citizens. Despite progress, challenges involving financing, accountability, administrative capacity and effective devolution continue to affect the system.
The conclusion of the regional tour in Port Loko therefore marks another stage in the Government’s efforts to bridge the gap between national policymaking and the realities confronting communities.
For Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, the objective remains to ensure that governance extends beyond institutions in Freetown and produces visible results in schools, health facilities, markets, councils, chiefdoms and communities across Sierra Leone.
