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The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Amb. Tamba Lamina, has during the publication of the administrative inquiry report into the management of the Freetown City Council ordered the Mayor’s Delivery Unit (MDU) at Freetown City Council (FCC) to be dissolved with immediate effect on the grounds that it is not legally seated in the Council.
“As a Ministry, having gone through the recommendations of the inquiry team, which stated that FCC had a toxic and acidic working environment, dysfunctional relationship, financial mismanagement and that the MDU is a parallel administration to the statutory administration, we have resolved to disband it from the Council,” Minister Tamba Lamina pronounced.
He stated that the decision of the Ministry was in accordance with part 14 subsection 97 to 99 of the 2004 Local Government Act, which outlines the roles of the Local Government Ministry with regards monitoring, supervision and oversight. He added that sections 97 (4) clearly gives the Ministry the responsibility to investigate defaults in any Council, map out ways to rectify it, choose the type of actions or interventions that may be required to settle the same and support the said Council to effectively exercise its functions.
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He disclosed that the Ministry is very much concerned about the underperformance of FCC and that it has developed a number of benchmarks which FCC must conform with. Adding that the Ministry is meeting with FCC on Tuesday 22nd February,2022 to agree on timelines for the abduction of the said benchmarks.
He ended by reading a good number of recommendations from the report including the one to restore the dignity and effectiveness of the core staff who had been redundant in the Council since the establishment of the MDU.
Members of the enquiry team read couple of sections on their findings during the investigation. Among other things they highlighted were that FCC had taken and implemented major decisions without consulting the Ministry.
For instance, the decision to establish the MDU to raise property tax was a unilateral decision taken by FCC in complete disregard to the supervisory Ministry (MLGRD), that visiting dignitaries of FCC do not pay courtesy calls on the Ministry and many others.
Other interesting findings and recommendations were disclosed during the publication ceremony where staff of FCC,
