CSO’s meets with PC’s on the Draft Chieftaincy Bill

Civil Society Organisations, on Wednesday had a roundtable deliberation with Paramount Chiefs at the Hill Valley Hotel, in Freetown on the Draft Chieftaincy Bill which presents a historic opportunity for reform. 
For the first time in the history of Sierra Leone, the procedures for electing and appointing Paramount Chiefs and sub-chiefs have been set out in the Draft Chieftaincy Bill.
Comprehensive review and reform of chiefdom governance is urgently needed to consolidate the gains of post-war governance reform and ensure continuing peace and stability.
The case for reform is not a case against tradition, but rather a case of continued relevance of chieftaincy in a country that yearns for better governance, fairer justice systems, socio-economic development and greater accountability.
Many Sierra Leoneans argue that the balance between chiefs’ service to the government and service to the community has shifted too far in favor of government and national political parties.
Critics argued that in the past, chiefs often serve as political enforces, sometimes actively suppressing free speech and political association.
Chiefs who enjoyed the patronage of the politically powerful also tended to abuse their authority for private gain, exploiting their people in that process.
There have been worrying signs of a return to this kind of behavior in the post-war era. Civil Society position on the draft chieftaincy bill notes that reforms of the mechanisms for appointing chiefs and the terms and conditions of chiefs’ service will have to be undertaken to ensure chiefs’ primary loyalty is to their people and not governing parties, as the TRC report recommends.
According to CSO’s the Draft Chieftaincy Act preserves the status quo and does not reflect principles of accountability and good governance
While the government’s initiative in making these procedures a specific subject of legislation is to be applauded, the Draft Chieftaincy Act 2008 does not go far enough in terms of reforming the ills that have been plaguing the chieftaincy system in the past decades. It is against this backdrop that CSO’s have engaged the Paramount Chiefs to find a way forward.