Road Trip to Renewal in Sierra Leone – Part 2

Internationl intern, Tom Ellum, continues his road trip across Sierra Leone. Read the first part of his adventure here.

Sierra Leone (wwoofsl.org)

We stopped on the journey back to Bo to discuss politics with Forday, the chairman of a local youth organisation, over some poyo (palm wine).  He assured us his organisation will attend the THM arriving on 30 motorbikes – a sight I’m looking forward to seeing!  Heading north, the Mende cries of ‘bonwi bonwi’ gave way to calls of ‘obotee obotee’ as we crossed a bridge with children washing below.  We were now in Tenme country and heading to Makeni, the All People’s Congress stronghold.  Although we arrived early, civil society connections secured us a prompt meeting with the Chairman on Bombali District Council.

The Chairman, twice elected and charismatic, has become something of a spokesperson for other councillors.  So it was unsurprising that the first point on the agenda as he welcomed us was councillor welfare.  Apparently, councillors are paid so little that their wages hardly cover the cost of transport to attend council meetings.  He also talked of communities under his jurisdiction that had refused to pay taxation in protest to what they saw as lack of development.  Therefore, the Chairman was keen that we used the THM not just to provide accountability from councils, but also educate constituents about being responsible citizens.  I left the meeting sympathising with both the Council and constituents and eager to attend the meeting which he had brazenly located in Gbenedembu – one of the communities refusing to pay taxes.

Our final visit was to the region of Koinadugu, and the town of Kabala.  Cooler than the rest of Sierra Leone, it sits in the shadow of picturesque hills.  Koinadugu is one of the harder regions to govern with the Council responsible for communities over 100km away on roads near impassable in the wet season, with no mobile reception and some not even using the Leone as currency.  It was in one of these communities that the Deputy Chief Administrator wanted us to hold the THM.  However, as it was wet season, and we needed mobile reception for a live phone in, we had to compromise for a location slightly closer to Kabala.

All in all, a fascinating journey on the path of real change.