Decentralization, Democracy, and
Development : Recent Experience from Sierra Leone

In 2004, the government of Sierra Leone
opted for a rethink of its national governance arrangement
by embarking on the resuscitation of democratically elected
local government after 32 years experimenting with central
government appointed district and municipal governments. The
decision by the government and the people of Sierra Leone
was driven by a primary consideration to address the
country's seeming nonperformance in the areas of
citizens' participation in governance and responding to
the needs of citizens as it relates to attainment of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as ensuring
poverty reduction in the country. This book is a
retrospective of the decentralization reform process in
Sierra Leone from 2003-07. During this period, the
Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) reestablished elected
district and urban councils across the country, transferred
certain responsibilities for primary services and local
investment and some financial resources to the new councils,
and invested heavily in building the administrative
infrastructure and capacity of the local councils. The
author is partners who were intimately involved in the
reform. Through recording various aspects of the process and
reflecting on the observations and learning during that
time, the author hope to contribute to the debates on the
merits and risks of decentralization in general and its
desirability and viability in post-conflict countries.