Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA) has in statement issued today announced that the Local Government Act of 2004 has been reviewed and the new Local Government Act of 2022 has been enacted with new changes made within the District Council, Local Council, and Chiefdom Administrations.

According to the Ministry, this milestone is a strong achievement in the New Direction manifesto of President Junius Maada Bio.

“The relevance of passing this Bill into Law was to ensure that the absurdities that were created in the old Act (2004) were cleared and also to bring on board emerging issues,” the Ministry noted.

The Ministry further revealed that, “In this new law, these are some of the following changes that were considered;

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  1. The title of the Head of the District Council which used to be “Chairman” has now been given a prefix, so it is now “District Chairman”.

  2. The Local Councils are now the highest development and political authorities in the districts.

  3. The tenure of Heads of Local Council is now five years.

  4. Persons who intend to run for the position of Chairman or Mayor will now run with their running mates.

  5. Members of Parliament will now be represented in Local Council as Ex Officio Members. (Zolpidem)

  6. The number of Paramount Chiefs that attend Council meetings have now been increased from 10% to 20%.

  7. Tribal and Village Heads will now seat in Councils in Freetown and Waterloo.

  8. There is now revenue sharing guideline between the District Councils and the Chiefdom Administrations.

  9. Devolved Functions: (1) School feeding, subsidies and teacher recruitment which were previously devolved from the Ministry of Basic and Senior School Education (MBSSE) will now be handled by the said Ministry and the Teaching Service Commission with Local Councils playing an integral role. (2) Land surveys and the issuance of building permits are now done by the Land Commission in collaboration with Local Councils.

  10. The Provincial Coordinating Committee has now been changed to Regional Coordinating Committee to bring on board other bodies of Government who are not devolved to Council.

  11. We now have five regions recognized by law in Sierra Leone.

  12. Recruitment for Local Council staff will now be done using a selected body comprising the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO), Public Service Commission (PSC), Local Government Service Commission (LGSC), Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA).

  13. The Chief Administrators of Local Councils are now the vote controllers in the new law (Local Government Act 2022).

  14. NLE 25,000 fine is now levied on Local Councils who fail to display quarterly publication of their financial operational transactions.

  15. District Chairmen/ Mayors and core staff of Local Councils are now entitled to retirement benefits.

  16. Coordination: District and Development Coordinating Committee to monitor and coordinate development agenda at local level.