By Josephine  Sesay

Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has announced a two-week regional tour aimed at strengthening decentralization, improving local government service delivery and bringing governance closer to communities across Sierra Leone.

The tour, themed “Governance in Action, Bringing Your Local Government Closer to You:

The Honourable Vice President’s Regional Decentralization Tour,” is being organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, with support from the World Bank.

As part of the initiative, Vice President Jalloh is expected to visit the regional headquarters towns of Kenema, Bo, Makeni and Port Loko, where he will engage local authorities and community stakeholders on issues affecting governance and public service delivery.

During the tour, the Vice President will hold discussions with Paramount Chiefs, Local Council officials, Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as representatives of communities and other local governance stakeholders.

The engagements are expected to provide a platform for stakeholders at the grassroots level to directly communicate their concerns, highlight challenges and contribute to discussions on improving the effectiveness of local government institutions.

Speaking on the importance of the tour, Vice President Jalloh, who serves as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Local Governance and Decentralization, said the exercise would help government better understand the challenges confronting the local governance system.

“I look forward to listening, learning, and working together to identify practical solutions that strengthen coordination, improve service delivery, and bring government closer to the people,” Jalloh said.

He further stressed the importance of effective local governance to Sierra Leone’s development, noting that “strong local governance is essential to building a more accountable, responsive, and inclusive Sierra Leone.”

The regional tour comes as the government continues efforts to deepen decentralization and strengthen the role of local councils in national development.

Decentralization is intended to give communities greater participation in decision-making while ensuring that essential public services are delivered more effectively at the local level.

Through the regional engagements, the government is expected to assess coordination between local councils, central government institutions and other stakeholders, while identifying practical measures to address gaps in service delivery.

The tour will also provide an opportunity for Paramount Chiefs and other traditional authorities to engage directly with national government officials on issues affecting their communities.

Local Council officials and representatives of MDAs are similarly expected to discuss institutional challenges, coordination issues and other factors that may affect the implementation of government programmes at the local level.

With Sierra Leone’s development increasingly dependent on effective grassroots participation, the Vice President’s tour is expected to reinforce the government’s commitment to ensuring that decentralization translates into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens.

The engagements in Kenema, Bo, Makeni and Port Loko are therefore expected to serve not only as consultations but also as a platform for identifying actionable solutions that can strengthen local governance and improve the delivery of public services across the country.

The regional decentralization tour is ultimately expected to contribute to a more responsive governance system in which citizens have greater opportunities to participate in decision-making and engage government institutions on issues affecting their communities.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 17th August 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)