By Dadson A. Musa

Sierra Leone, founded in 1462 by Pedro Da Cintra was viewed by the Portuguese as a lion mountain for the simple fact of the timing, which was in the raining season and the mountainous landscape he saw from the ocean. So, our name as a country was derived from the site that is now the capital city, Freetown. Then came our colonial masters, the British who, when they sent back those freed slaves from England, they allowed them to settle in the colony that is today Freetown. And even when governing us as colonial masters they did it from what is today the capital city Freetown. All of these historic events were centered in Freetown and with little regard for the vast hinterland known today as the provinces. All the provision that they made centered around the capital, Freetown, in the process disadvantaging the provinces. And since we had independence in 1961, governments after governments tended to follow the trend instead of deviating from it which has fuelled inequality in our country. Post- colonial Sierra Leone has seen governance and most economic activities based in the city. Basic amenities are focused there even when the majority of our country’s population come from the provinces.

To address this problem, attempts were made to form local councils and even to create a decentralization secretariat. As we have seen over the years and continue to see driving licences, passport, embassies and good part of our universities are accessed in Freetown. Ministerial buildings, agencies and departments are all based or headquartered in Freetown which gives provincial dwellers so much disadvantage. Other basic amenities like electricity, water supply and relevant social services are only clearly visible in Freetown. And so, for services to filter down to the provinces it takes time even to the point that sometimes they are not delivered at all. The indicators are there for us to see as past surveys have shown that poverty, illiteracy and spread of diseases are a common feature of provincial life. Rural-urban migration has been on the increase ever since to access these facilities even at very high risks exposing provincials to exploitation, poor housing facilities in slum and lack of access to other facilities. This movement of people from rural to urban areas has threatened the flagship program which is feed Salone which takes place largely in the provinces This trend is not good to write home about and government should do something about it. Power and wealth are concentrated in few hands especially those based in the city and they decide the fate of the majority. Social discontent is becoming clearly visible.

This colonial legacy and mentality need a clean break from to ensure wealth is evenly spread   and every Sierra Leonean gets fair chance to the national cake. It is also believed that this trend seems to give foreigners edge over Sierra Leoneans living in the provinces which is not the case when we go abroad. Our west African neighbours, Ghana succeeded in turning the fortunes of their country around because they were thorough and clinical about decentralizing their country where every region had a fair chance not only the capital, Accra.