Member of Parliament of the main opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC), Honorable Abdul Kargbo has condemned the decision of the government of Sierra Leone to dissolve all Local Councils.

He made this statement in a post shared on Twitter, in response to a letter issued by the Ministry of Local Government, dated 8 February 2023, asking all Mayors, Chairpersons, and counselors to step aside, effectively 1 March 2023. The letter made reference to section 137 of the Local Government Act 2002.

Hon. Kargbo, representing constituency 077 in Port Loko District, Northern Sierra Leone stated that the government has violated the said section (137) of the Local Government Act, noting that nobody has the right to appoint a date for the dissolution of councils. He stated that it’s either five years from the day of their 1st sitting or on the day parliament dissolves.

“The letter from the Minister of local government violates section 137 of the local government act. Nobody has the right to appoint a date for the dissolution of councils. It’s either 5 years from the day of their first sitting or on the day Parliament dissolves, ie. if the first sitting of Parliament is earlier,” Hon. Kargbo twitted.

The letter instructed that the Chief Administrators should take a full record of the council’s assets and finances before the 28th of February 2023.