1. Enhancing Domestic Accountability through Public Information,
Citizen Participation and Dialogue in Sierra Leone:
The Open Government Initiative
Yuichiro Sakai
Programme Officer・Governance Unit
Unitted Nations Development Programme
Sierra Leone
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2. Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................................3
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Overview of the Open Government Initiative (OGI) .................................................................5
1.3 Objectives and outline of this paper ..........................................................................................6
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN.............................................6
2.1 Transparency ..............................................................................................................................7
2.2 Participation ...............................................................................................................................7
2.3 Accountability .............................................................................................................................8
2.4 Research instrument ..................................................................................................................8
3. TRANSPARENCY AND CHANNELS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION............................. 11
3.1 Town hall meetings .................................................................................................................. 11
3.2 Radio/TV discussion forum .....................................................................................................18
4. PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PROCESSES .................................................................18
4.1 Creating platform for political participation ...........................................................................18
4.2 Role of the media and civil society organizations ...................................................................19
4.3 Promoting participation of women and youth ........................................................................20
5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY......................................................................................22
5.1 Improved perception of accountability and transparency.......................................................22
5.2 Integrating citizen`s concerns into policies .............................................................................23
6. REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION ......................................................................................24
6.1 New platforms for public discussions ......................................................................................24
6.2 Citizen participation in governance processes ........................................................................25
6.3 Towards accountable and responsive government ..................................................................25
ANNEX 1: Photos from OGI 2008-2009 .........................................................................................27
ANNEX 2: Sample questionnaire ....................................................................................................29
ANNEX 3: List of Past “OGI Hour – Have Your Say in Governance” ..........................................31
ENDNOTE.........................................................................................................................................33
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3. ABSTRACT
This paper introduces activities of the
Open Government Initiative (OGI)
between 2008 and 2009 focusing on
contributions it has made towards
government transparency and
accountability as well as citizen
participation in public space. OGI
was launched in 2008 by the
government with the initial technical
and financial assistance from the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) to respond to the objectives of the government to enhance government
accountability and participatory decision making process as articulated in the
Agenda for Change (PRSPII). Since its launch in 2008, the Open Government
Initiative (OGI) has promoted platforms through which the government and the
population can directly interact, and the Sierra Leoneans in the communities can
receive information on government policies and activities. The improved
access to information enables the public to check the progress and impact of
government activities, and demand accountability of the elected and appointed
officials for the actions taken on their behalf. The government, on the other
hand, is provided with feedback on its performances and recommendations for
improvement. Through town halls with government officials including the
President, ministers, parliamentarians, judiciary and local councilors, and
through the interactive radio/TV discussion forum, OGI has provided new
channels for free flow of information for ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
The paper fist examines whether OGI was successful in creating new channels
for public information and two-way communication between the citizens and
government. This examination is concerned with how ordinary Sierra Leoneans
benefited from the additional channels of communication. The paper then
discusses if and how OGI contributed to participation of the citizens in political
processes. Special attention is given to the participation of vulnerable groups.
Thirdly, the paper analyzes whether, through OGI activities, people`s concerns
band views were utilized into government policies and actions. The paper
concludes with discussions on lessons and recommendations for way forward.
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4. 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In 2002, Sierra Leone emerged from a decade-long civil conflict that left much of
the country`s infrastructure and institutions ravaged. Some of the root causes of
the conflict are traced to the alienation of the population, especially women and
youth in regions, from national governance and abuse of power and authority.
Sierra Leone has since then made tremendous strides in peace building and
strengthening of democracy. The country has successfully managed national
and local elections on two occasions each, since the end of the civil conflict—the
national (presidential and parliamentary) elections were held in 2002 and
2007, while the local elections were held in 2004 and 2008. These elections
were peacefully conducted free and fair by international standards. The 2007
Presidential and Parliamentary Elections brought a peaceful change of power for
the first time in the country`s history. Additionally, Sierra Leone has adopted a
decentralization policy that resuscitated Local Council Administration after 30
years of absence in order to improve public service delivery for the rural
population. Furthermore, in order to effectively combat corruption, the
Anticorruption Commission has been mandated with power to prosecute. In
order to promote independent, neutral and tolerant media, Sierra Leone has
recently established the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, the second
independent public broadcaster in Africa.
Strengthening of democratic institutions in Sierra Leone in recent years has been
recognized. Recently, Sierra Leone has improved its rankings in the global
governance reports, although it is still placed near the bottom of the UN Human
Development Reports. In 2010, Sierra Leone was ranked 158th out of 169
countries in the UN`s Human Development Index, placed 12 points from the
bottom of the index.i Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance shows Sierra
Leone has moved from 49th place among African countries to 30th place in the
category of safety and rule of law between 2000/1 and 2008/9 while it remained
at 19th place for participation and human rights.ii Transparency International`s
Corruption Perception Index also notes that Sierra Leone is fairing better than
some other countries in its anti-corruption efforts recently. Sierra Leone moved
from 158th place out of 180 countries in 2008 to 134th place out of 178 countries
in 2010.iii
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5. Despite the steady progress made, there is still a general sense of disconnect
between the government and the electorate who are often uninformed or
misinformed of government policies and actions. In this context, the Open
Government Initiative (OGI) was launched in 2008 by the government with the
initial technical and financial assistance from the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) to respond to the objectives of the government to enhance
government accountability and participatory decision making process as
articulated in the Agenda for Change (PRSPII).iv Since then, the OGI has
demonstrated that a meaningful two way communication between the people and
the government is possible through simple yet innovative means. For the first
time, Sierra Leoneans had the opportunity to receive the President and the
cabinet ministers as well as other public officials in their communities for a
face-to-face meeting for interactive question and answer sessions. Sierra
Leone`s Agenda for Change 2008-2012 views OGI as one of the tools to
communicate its objectives, processes and impacts to the general public as well
as to enhance transparency and accountability of the three branches of the
Government: the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.
1.2 Overview of the Open Government Initiative (OGI)
Since its launch in 2008, the Open Government Initiative (OGI) has promoted
platforms through which the government and the people can directly interact and
exchange information on the implementation of government policies and
activities. The improved access to information enables the public to check the
progress and impact of government activities, and demand accountability of the
elected and appointed officials for the actions taken on their behalf. The
government, on the other hand, is provided with feedback on its performances
and recommendations for improvement. Thus, the initiative focuses on
improving the capacity of the state institutions and officials in public information
sharing and dialogue while also focusing on the capacity of citizens to participate
in governance and demand accountability. Officials including the President,
relevant ministers, members of parliament and the Judiciary visit the districts to
have face to face discussions with the people in a town hall setting on their day to
day challenges, such as related to agriculture, energy supply, promotion of girl
child education, employment of youth, improvement of health, education, prison
and police facilities. People can ask any questions and the Government is
required to answer them and utilize the voices of people into their policy
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6. development.
In addition to government-public dialogue organized in town halls, the OGI
also organizes weekly television and radio show called The OGI Hour – Have
Your Say in Governance. The OGI Hour provides another sphere for the
government to reach out to the public and discuss emerging issues and actions
taken to address them. The OGI Hour is a question and answer discussion forum
where listeners and viewers can send in questions and comments, and panelists
provide responses. Panelists normally comprise of public officials and civil
society representatives.
1.3 Objectives and outline of this paper
Objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which OGI contributed to
strengthen government transparency and accountability as well as citizen
participation. The paper fist examines whether OGI was successful in creating
new channels for public information and two-way communication between the
citizens and government in order to make information available and increase
government transparency. The examination is concerned with how ordinary
Sierra Leoneans benefited and what types of information was received.
Secondly, the paper analyzes if and how OGI contributed to participation of the
citizens in political processes. Special attention is given to the participation of
vulnerable groups. Thirdly, the paper discusses whether OGI assisted the
citizens to hold government to account and whether citizens` views were utilized
into government policies and actions.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides theoretical
framework of the study by providing a brief literature review on the three key
principles of democratic governance. The section also presents the analytical
framework and methodology of the study, describing the method of data
collection and analysis. Section 3, 4 and 5 examine and discuss the findings of
OGI`s contributions to government transparency and accountability and citizen
participation. Section 6 provides reflections on the findings and concludes the
paper.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN
In recent years, there has been a growing new consensus that good governance is
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7. an integral part of achieving poverty reduction and that institutions, rules and
political processes matter for development. Poverty reduction and human
development are not only economical, social and technological processes but also
institutional and political processes. Various studies have shown governance
failures such as widespread corruption and ineffective public services as
responsible for lagging development and persistent poverty. Discussions on
promoting good governance focus on making institutions and processes effective
for ordinary citizens to receive basic services and center around issues such as
transparency, participation, accountability and rule of law. It is also crucial that
the institutions and processes are fair and ordinary people have a say and
participate in these processes.v
The Open Government Initiative (OGI) was designed to promote these core
principles of governance, namely transparency, participation and accountability
through town hall meetings and other means.
2.1 Transparency
Transparency is concerned with making information available to the public.
Sen (1999) notes that places for information and free flow of information such as
open discussion, debate, and exchange are essential for “processes of generating
informed and reflected choices.”vi In order to make transparency meaningful,
information needs of the people must be identified, cost of access must be
reasonable, and information should be user-friendly. Access to information and
communication in countries affected by crises are especially vital in identifying
the opportunities and threats for crisis prevention and recovery and long-term
development.vii In terms of transparency, this paper examines the extent to
which OGI provided channels for information flow and communication in order
to increase government transparency by making information available. The
analysis will pay particular attention on how town hall participants benefitted
from the two-way communication and the acquisition of information.
2.2 Participation
The second area that the OGI was intended to promote was participation.
Ability of the people to participate in political process and influence government
policies and actions through public opinions is one of the core principles of
democracy.viii The UNDP notes that for information to empower citizens, they
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8. need to have capacity to understand and analyze information and be able to
communicate their views and act on the information.ix Citing that famines do
not happen in democracies, Sen argues that government response to citizens`
needs and sufferings depends on the pressure that people put on the government
through the exercise of political and civil rights. x The paper analyzes the
contribution of OGI to enhancing the participation of ordinary Sierra Leoneans in
political processes, paying special attention to the vulnerable groups such as the
poor, women and youth.
2.3 Accountability
Thirdly, accountability is fundamental in strengthening governance.
Accountability brings into focus the ability of citizens and civil society to hold
the government to account for its policies, programs and performances, including,
ultimately, the ability to change public officials through democratic means.xi
Further, a responsive government listens to people’s needs and concerns and
reflects them in the design and implementation of policies and programs.xii
Whether the implementation leads to a real change often depends on
“communication among networks within and outside of government, among civil
society organizations, and between citizens in the public sphere.”xiii The paper
will look for cases in which OGI facilitated the people to hold government to
account. It will also examine if OGI strengthened responsiveness of the
government by looking for instances where people`s concerns and requests were
utilized in government policies and actions.
2.4 Research instrument
This study utilized a combination of primary and secondary sources of data.
They were combined through the administration of 404 questionnaires and the
review of 17 documents written on OGI. Information from a wide range of
groups of people were necessary to provide answers to three objectives of this
paper. Through the analysis of questionnaires, the paper aims to discover the
perception of participants to OGI activities on its contribution to strengthening
government accountability and transparency as well as to citizen participation in
political process.
A large number of questionnaires were answered by town hall meeting
participants shortly after the meetings. The administration of questionnaires
8

9. (see Annex 2 for a sample questionnaire) was conducted by local civil society
organization (CSO) members that assisted the logistics and organization of the
town hall meetings. Shortly after the town hall meetings, a group of local CSO
members administered the questionnaires through face-to-face interviews with
participants. Total of 404 questionnaires were conducted after three town hall
meetings with Parliamentarians and three town hall meetings with the
representatives from the Justice Sector. Questionnaires were not conducted
during the four previous town hall meetings with the Presidency.
In order to improve sampling quality and diversity of respondents, the survey
administrators were instructed to balance variables of gender and age. Figure 1
below shows the age distribution of 404 respondents to the questionnaire. It is
obvious that the male participants far outnumbered female participants at all age
groups. Out of 404 questionnaire respondents, 298 were males and 106 were
females. It can also be easily observed that the majority of the participants
belonged to the age group between 20 and 50.
Figure1: Age and gender of respondents
The respondents included a diverse cross section of the community ranging from
teachers and civil society members to traditional leaders and farmers. Figure 2
and 3 show the occupations of male and female participants respectively.
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10. Figure 2: Occupation of participants - male
Figure 3: Occupation of participants - female
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11. In addition to the questionnaires, secondary sources of data were examined
through the review of 17 documents. These documents included field visit
reports, project reports, OGI newsletters, and a research paper conducted by an
independent evaluator as well as a recommendation paper. It should be noted
that the author of this paper was directly involved in supporting the
implementation of the OGI as a responsible UNDP officer for the period under
review by this study. This has enabled an easy access to documents that served
as important secondary sources to address the objectives of the study. The
findings discussed in this paper are views and opinions of the author and not of
UNDP or the project.
Data analysis was conducted manually using Microsoft Excel using the data on
the reports transcribed from questionnaires after each town hall meetings.
Quotations used in the following discussions were selected due to their
representative nature of the participants as a whole and relevance to the
objectives of the study.
3. TRANSPARENCY AND CHANNELS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION
3.1 Town hall meetings
The main method that the OGI utilized to provide additional channel to make
information available for strengthened transparency was the town hall meeting in
provincial communities. This was the first time for many communities to
receive the Presidency in a town hall setting and discuss directly with the
President. It was also the first time for most people to meet face to face with
the parliamentarians in their communities since the 2007 elections campaigns.
OGI facilitated 10 town hall meetings during the period 2008-2009 between
government and the communities in various parts of Sierra Leone. The
initiative purposefully avoided the capital city as the choice of location and chose
to organize meetings in district communities in order to rebalance information
flow towards rural areas. During this period, four town hall meetings were
organized between the people and the President or Vice President and the cabinet
ministers; three meetings with the Parliamentarians, and three meetings with
officials from the Justice Sector.. Town hall meetings are organized in the form
of an open dialogue. While each meeting focused on a selected socio-economic
issue such as such as agriculture, energy, and education, people were also free to
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12. ask any questions related to any other issues affecting their welfare. All
community members, especially women and youth, civil society groups, and
private sector operators were encouraged to participate.
Prior to town hall meetings, government officials took part in the monitoring of
local development projects and institutional activities to inspect and determine
progress made in the implementation of works. These activities enabled the
government officials to better understand the day-to-day challenges of the
ordinary Sierra Leoneans and to see the areas that need to be addressed within
the development framework.
Town hall meetings usually started in the early afternoon and lasted for three to
four hours or longer as people were eager to take advantage of such rare
opportunities to ask questions. The meetings started with remarks on the topic
of discussion from invited officials. Priority government policies and programs
were outlined at the opening ceremonies. The people were then given the floor
to ask questions, express concerns, and provide recommendations to the
government officials.
Meeting with the Presidency
OGI presented unprecedented occasions for open dialogue between the ordinary
citizens in Sierra Leone and the President, Vice President and Cabinet Ministers.
Below is a summary of locations, focus areas of discussions, and projects
inspected by President and other officials.
September 2008
District Visited: Bombali District
Location of Meeting: Makeni Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: agriculture sector
Field visit: farm projects
October 2008
District Visited: Bo District
Location of Meeting: Bo Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: energy sector
Field visit: Bo Power Station
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13. November 2008
District Visited: Port Loko District
Location of Meeting: Port Loko Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: education sector
Field visit: Port Loko Teachers College
February 2009
District Visited: Koinadugu District
Location of Meeting: Koidu Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: mining sector
Field Visit: Koidu Holdings Mining Site
During the town halls, people raised concerns and asked questions directly to the
Presidency on issues ranging from high unemployment and food sufficiency to
poor local infrastructure and political issues. In the town hall in Makeni, a
female primary school teacher raised the issue of youth unemployment and asked
about mechanisms the government has in place to create employment. Deputy
Minister of Trade responded that employment requires youth to possess skills and
the government promotes “growth centers” for vocational skills in the sector that
the region has comparative advantage. Responding to a question raised on poor
school infrastructure in Port Loko, the Minister of Education noted the need to
rehabilitate school facilities in the district and available subsidies will be
allocated schools with high performance.
OGI established a unique and solid channel of communication between the
government and the people, and fostered a free flow of information in rural areas,
which has not been fully achieved by the challenging decentralization processes.
This is significant in a country where rural alienation from the center is
considered a cause of the decade-long civil war. “If OGI was found before the
war, there would be no war in the country,” said one town hall participant. By
reaching out to district communities and facilitating communication among key
stakeholders from central, local and traditional chiefdom authorities as well as
civil society organizations and ordinary citizens, OGI facilitated a process to
address obstacles to development and peace building.
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14. Meeting with the Parliamentarians
Parliamentarians visited three districts for town hall meetings with community
members, elaborating on their roles as parliamentarians, role of the opposition,
relationship between parliamentarians and local government, as well as gaining
an understanding of daily issues that people are concerned with. OGI facilitated
three town hall meetings with the parliamentarians as summarized below.
September 2009
District Visited: Kenema District
Location of Meeting: Kenema Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: Roles of Parliamentarians, health, infrastructure,
gender issues
Field visit: Kenema Government Hospital
October 2009
District Visited: Koinadugu District
Location of Meeting: Kabala Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: health and education sectors
Field visit: Koinandugu Government Hospital, Government Education
Inspectorate Office
November 2009
District Visited: Pujehun District
Location of Meeting: Pujehun Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: road networks, health and education sectors
Field visit: ujehun Government Hospital, Government Education Inspectorate
Office
These meetings provided opportunities for the parliamentarians to assess the
needs of the people and ensure better representation of their constituents. The
success of these meetings increased the confidence of the parliamentarians for
constituency outreach and prompted other districts to demand OGI and
parliament to organize similar town halls in their communities.
Figure 4 below shows the result of the questionnaires on how the participants to
town hall meetings benefitted from direct dialogue with Parliamentarians.
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15. According to the questionnaires, 25% of the respondents appreciated having a
direct and open dialogue with the Parliamentarians, and 24% benefitted from
gaining knowledge on the roles and functions of the Parliament while 22%
gained new information on development activities pertinent to the community.
Through these meetings, the people were able to learn about the functions of the
parliament, the role of members of parliament in development, and how local tax
is utilized.
Figure 4: How did you benefit from town hall with Parliamentarians?
Additionally, these meetings enhanced information exchange on the
implementation of critical development programs, such as road works,
governance, and education with special reference to the girls education. The
questionnaire responses indicate that following town halls, the participants are
better informed of government policies and programs as well as development
activities.
15

16. A community member in Pujehun had this to say: “I got a lot of information on
pending development for the district. I am convinced that this bridged the gap
between the parliamentarians and the electorate. There is a good sign of
democracy.” Another participant said: “the meeting [helped] me to know
about government plans for the district, it brings my parliamentarians to an open
dialogue,” while a respondent from Kabala town hall said; “I am happy with
parliamentarians because they accept their faults and discussed the way
forward.”
Meeting with the Justice Sector
The members of the Judiciary (such as a high court judge, master and registrar,
law reform commission, human rights commission, customary law officer), and
the wider justice sector such as the police and prisons visited districts to meet and
discuss with the public, and to visit facilities such as the police stations and
prisons. OGI facilitated three town hall meetings with the justice sector as
summarized below.
October 2009
District Visited: Kambia District
Location of Meeting: Kambia Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: prison conditions, bush or boundary disputes, court
procedures
Field visit: Kambia Prisons and Police
November 2009
District Visited: Bonthe District
Location of Meeting: Mattru Jong Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: geographical divisions between the mainland and
the island, court procedures
Field visit: Mattru Jong Prison and Police
November 2009
District Visited: Kailahun District
Location of Meeting: Kailahun Town Hall
Focus Area of Discussion: border security, prison conditions, court procedures
Field visit: Kailahun Prison and Police
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17. Figure 5 below shows the result of the questionnaires on how the participants to
town hall meetings benefitted from opportunities to ask questions and receive
answers from Justice Sector officials. According to the questionnaires, 44% of
the respondents appreciated gaining knowledge on the justice sector and justice
issues, and 17% benefitted from increased awareness on issues pertinent to the
community while 15% gained knowledge on their rights and responsibilities.
Participants to Judiciary town hall meetings benefited by gaining more
information on the justice system or justice related issues such as court
proceedings, authorities and institutions within the justice sector, Child Rights
Act, gender acts, and human rights violations. Many in Bonthe town hall also
appreciated to learn that bail is free.
Figure 5: How did you benefit from town hall with Justice Sector?
One participant mentioned that “most of the topics discussed were never known
to me. From this meeting I am now aware of them. It has made me to know more
about the law of the country and our community.” Another community member
expressed that the benefit of the meeting “is in the open communication between
the Judiciary and the public which contributes to the enhancement of
transparency.”
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18. 3.2 Radio/TV discussion forum
In addition to town hall meetings, another channel for public information and
dialogue facilitated by OGI is radio/TV discussion forum called OGI Hour –
Have Your Say in Governance. This enables people from across Sierra Leone to
ask questions or make comments through telephone or text messages during
discussions. Panelists consisting of relevant government and civil society
representatives discuss and answer people`s questions and comments. This
program was broadcast by the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation across the
country. Topics for each session were selected based on the context of the time
and had included issues such as political violence, energy, land reform and price
increase. OGI facilitated 12 of such programs between June and August 2009.
Topics and panelists for each program are summarized in the Annex 3.
The OGI Hour still continues today and provides an additional new channel for
public information and dialogue on relevant development issues. It provides
listeners and viewers with opportunities to hear from officials who are directly
responsible for policy making in key issues of the time and ask questions on the
policies and actions taken by the government.
4. PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PROCESSES
4.1 Creating platform for political participation
By providing a forum for participation in the public dialogue, town hall meetings
contributed to strengthening people’s ownership of and a sense of responsibility
for development of their own district. A participant in Kenema town hall
commented; “One of the best things is that the MPs who were at a distance of
this constituency now know the important issues affecting the people.” A
community member in Kabala town hall appreciated that “for the first time I was
able to meet with Member of Parliament and ask questions on their promises and
development issues.
Another member appreciated that “the government is empowering the electorate
through public discussion. The government initiative is good and commendable.”
A community member in Kabala town hall indicated that “this meeting has
reminded me that I am part of the government and I have more responsibilities to
do toward the development of the country.” Another participant in Kabala
added: “It makes me believe that my opinion and view is important in
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19. governance.”
Through 10 OGI town hall meetings between September 2008 and November
2009, it is estimated that 6,000 ordinary Sierra Leoneans participated in the
political processes. The figure estimated by the OGI Secretariat is not actually
counted numbers but estimated figures based on the number of chairs and the
size of town halls. As Table 1 below summarizes, it is estimated that over 2,000
people attended the meetings with the Presidency; over 2,000 attended the
meetings with parliamentarians, and over 2,000 attended meetings with Officials
from the Justice Sector. In all, over 247 questions were asked by community
members in the 10 town hall meetings organized and answered provided by
representatives from the Presidency, parliament, and the justice sector.
Table 1: Number of participants and questions in OGI town halls
Executive Legislative Judiciary
District # of people # of questions District # of people # of questions District # of people # of questions
* * *
attended asked attended asked attended asked
Bombali 300 10 Kenema 750 29 Kambia 800 37
Bo 1,000 17 Koinandugu 800 27 Bonthe 700 36
Port Loko 500 9 Pujehun 800 30 Kailahun 600 38
Kono 400 14
Total 2,200 50 Total 2,350 86 Total 2,100 111
Source: OGI Project Completion Report
4.2 Role of the media and civil society organizations
During the initial stage of the project, most people in the districts were still not
aware of the initiative. In order to sensitize the population on the initiative and
mobilize participation, OGI invested in public education and sensitization in
collaboration with the local media. In Sierra Leone, radio is the most important
means for public information. According to the “media use survey” conducted
in 2010 by the media NGO, Fondation Hirondelle, radio was listened to by 82%
of Sierra Leoneans, 5% increase from the 2008 estimates. This compares to
26% for television, 9% for newspapers and just 3% for the internet. About 86%
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20. of men and 78% of women are radio listeners.xiv In order to take advantage of
their wide reaching effect, OGI partnered with community radio stations to
sensitize and educate the people about government policies and actions.
During the week leading to the town hall meetings, OGI coordinated radio
discussion programs and jingles on the main local and community radio stations
about these meetings. People were informed in advance about the purpose of
such meetings, the expected participants, and the approach to the discussions.
The mobilization of community participation through local radio stations proved
effective. Feedback questionnaires conducted after town hall meetings revealed
that the majority of the participants learned about the meetings through radio.
Despite the initial success, one of the challenges that the initiative faced was to
ensure the political neutrality so that the initiative is not perceived as a tool for
political campaign in a country that is highly polarized along party lines. In
order to ensure neutrality, it was crucial to mobilize participation of people from
all walks of life regardless of party affiliation and including marginalized groups
such as women, youth and the disabled. Civil society organizations are key in
mobilizing people participation as the government on its own cannot undertake
efforts towards human development.xv The OGI strengthened partnership with
civil society organizations with a better understanding of grassroots realities.
They held small community meetings to explain about OGI, appeared on radio
programs, set up banners, and distributed leaflets. This partnership has given
rise to the improved community participation and contributed to stem political
marginalization. Civil society was part of advance teams, dispatched to the
relevant districts to meet with the communities to explain OGI and upcoming
town hall. Local radio stations were used for the announcement of these
meetings, banners were posted and leaflet distributed.
4.3 Promoting participation of women and youth
During the first town hall meetings that took place in Bombali district, about 300
community members participated to have an open dialogue and ask questions to
the Presidency and senior ministers. However, despite sensitization to mobilize
women and youth, majority of participants were adult men. The project then
embarked on a major sensitization and mobilization efforts in order to attract
female and youth participation.
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21. Songs and jingle were developed and broadcast intensively by radio encouraging
especially women and youth to attend these town. By the fourth town hall
meeting, women`s participation had visibly increased. In the post-conflict
Sierra Leone, there exists a severe gender imbalance, and OGI intended to foster
a better environment for women to take part in constructive national dialogue on
issues impacting their lives. In order to rebalance gender disparity, the project
ensured that equal number of men and women were able to ask questions
although there were much less women attending these meetings.
Additionally, to improve women`s participation, OGI held two-hour women`s
forum on radio in each district before town hall meetings to discuss and sensitize
gender issues and promote women`s participation in the meetings. During town
hall meetings, a well-known women`s rights advocate was chosen as the
facilitator as an additional measure to encourage women to contribute to the
dialogue. However, despite all these measures, this has still been a challenge as
the questionnaires estimated that only around 28% of participants to town hall
meetings have been females (see Figure 6 below). This suggests that further
initiatives were needed to bring about inclusive participation.
Figure 6: Gender representation in OGI town hall meetings
In addition, marginalization of youth is one of the major issues in Sierra Leone.
In order to mobilize participation of youth in the town hall meetings, jingles were
developed by a popular Sierra Leonean artist. The artist also performed a song
specially made for OGI at the beginning of every town hall meeting encouraging
diverse people to participate in direct and open dialogue with the President and
21

22. other government officials. Further, a special measure was taken to invite
physically challenged people who sat in the front seat to facilitate their easier
interaction with the government representatives.
5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
5.1 Improved perception of accountability and transparency
The questionnaires administered by civil society members showed the meetings
were successful in improving the perception of the participants for government
transparency and accountability. One town hall participants in Pujehun noted;
“I benefited by learning a lot and asking questions to the parliamentarians about
what they are doing for their district or constituency, what they promised to [do]
but what is not done.” Another community member expressed that the town
hall “promotes accountability and transparency. Moreover, it promotes speedy
development as needs are highlighted by questions raised.”
As the below figures 7-10 summarize, according to the questionnaires, 89% of
the survey respondents that attended 3 parliamentarian town hall meetings said
the meeting contributed to the improved government transparency and 86% said
it contributed to the improved accountability. Questionnaire results were
similar for judiciary town halls as 95% of the survey respondents at 3 judiciary
town hall meeting said it contributed to the improved transparency of the
Judiciary and 96% said it contributed to a better understanding of the justice
system.
*Has OGI parliamentary town hall meetings contributed to transparency and
accountability in the government?
Figure 7: Accountability Figure 8: Transparency
22

23. The above graphs show averages of responses from 3 parliamentary town hall meetings
(Kenema, Koinandugu and Pujehun)
*Has OGI judiciary town hall meetings contributed to transparency in the justice system
and whether the OGI meetings improved peoples’ understanding of the legal and justice
systems?
Figure 9: Transparency Figure 10: Better understanding
These graphs above show averages of responses from 3 judiciary town hall meetings (Kambia,
Bonthe and Kailahun)
5.2 Integrating citizen`s concerns into policies
In a well functioning democracy, citizens are able to hold government to account
for its policies, programs and actions. Citizens express their concerns, views
and recommendations for government to address, and assess government
performance by examining to what extent their requests are reflected in action.
Although efforts have not been made yet to systematically document and record
these cases, there are instances in which OGI contributed to this process for
citizens to hold government to account. For example, during discussions in the
town hall meeting in Makeni in 2008, community members raised concerns on
the issues of rapid increase in rice and fuel price as well as energy concerns to the
Ministers of Energy, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Commerce and
Trade to address. Following the town hall, the government took policy
measures to mitigate price increase through fiscal incentives to importers, private
sector operators and the Government of India on concessionary rice export terms.
It has also been reported that following the town hall, where concerns on food
sufficiency was raised and agriculture was promoted, the government allocated
23

24. additional agricultural equipments to the district for harvesting crops.
An independent evaluation of the initiative conducted after four Presidential
town hall meetings, which made great contributions to OGI to identify
weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, showed that 45% of the town
hall meeting participants interviewed said that actions have been taken by the
government following the town hall mentioning improvements that they have
witnesses such as repair of roads and improved hospital facilities. Multiple
interviewees noting follow-up actions by the government coupled with
documentary evidence to back up the interviews provide adequate evidence that
the government officials took measures to fulfill promises they made to the
public during town halls.xvi
6. REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION
6.1 New platforms for public discussions
OGI opened up new channels for public information and communication
between the people and centers of power in Sierra Leone. During the town hall
meetings, local actors including paramount chiefs, local councilors, students,
teachers, women, youth, civil society and other community members engaged in
dialogue with the President and ministers, parliamentarians, and members of the
Judiciary. Apart from contributing to an informed public in rural communities,
OGI facilitated public to gain insight into their role in development and political
process as well as the relationships among various branches and levels of
government both central and local. 89% of the town hall meeting participants
interviewed by the independent evaluation noted that they felt informed about the
government as a direct result of town halls.xvii
In addition to town hall meeting as a public sphere, OGI offered additional
platform for free flow of information through the open, interactive radio/TV
discussion program OGI Hour – Have Your Say in Governance. Following the
pilot period for OGI that was assisted by UNDP between 2008 and 2009, today
OGI continues as a fully nationally owned initiative. The initiative received
annual budget allocation from government subvention fund for the period
2011-2013, and Sierra Leone`s PRSPII, An Agenda for Change, aims to utilize
the initiative as a tool to enhance government accountability and participatory
decision making. To this end, a director post for OGI has been created as a
24

25. permanent government post. In 2010, OGI set out to reach out to Sierra
Leoneans in the Diaspora, and held a town hall meeting with the President in
New York City. Sustainability of OGI ensures continued promotion of public
discussions through the newly created channels of communication.
6.2 Citizen participation in governance processes
OGI has demonstrated that a meaningful dialogue between the public and
government is possible through simple yet innovative means. By providing
public officials with opportunities to reach out to communities and bringing all
stakeholders for community development together under one hall, the
questionnaires suggest that it contributed to trust building between the public and
government. This is especially notable in a post-conflict situation in which trust
for the government is the key for citizens to partake in development efforts and
political processes.
Some of the earlier barriers for the grassroots to participate in the initiative was
removed through efforts by the civil society organizations and the media to
sensitize and mobilize diverse groups of community members. However, even
though rural locations were selected for venues of town hall meetings to balance
information flow in favor of districts, as the meetings took place in district
headquarter towns, it was still difficult for people living in remote areas to attend.
On this point, respondents to questionnaires suggested bringing town hall to
chiefdom and village levels or holding similar meetings with local councilors in
addition to meetings at village levels with central authorities. Efforts are under
way to include these recommendations, and in 2010, OGI facilitated the conduct
various town hall meetings with local councilors.
6.3 Towards accountable and responsive government
The OGI initiative provided new opportunities and communication channels for
citizens to hold government to account for its policies, programs, actions and
performance. The questionnaires demonstrate the participants` satisfactions in
participating in the open, direct discussions and holding central authority to
account for actions taken on their behalf. UNDP notes that a responsive
government acknowledge people`s needs and concerns and utilize them in an
“impartial way in the design and implementation of policies and practices.”xviii
The findings of the questionnaires and the independent evaluation suggest that
25

26. the government has taken some actions towards promises that it made during the
OGI activities.
However, the evaluation report notes that government accountability is further
strengthened by creating forum and channels to communicate the government
actions back to the communities. This circle of communication should take
place through investigation by independent sources such as civil society
organizations and communication through media so that the community members
are not left unsure about the results of government promises.xix The initiative
has made improvements in this area by utilizing local radio stations to facilitate
discussions on OGI and government achievement and actions during
parliamentary and judiciary town hall meetings. OGI also facilitated press
conferences with the civil society organizations and print and broadcast media
after town halls on the content of discussions.
This paper has introduced activities of the Open Government Initiative (OGI)
between 2008 and 2009 focusing on contributions it has made towards
government transparency and accountability as well as citizen participation in
public life. Through town halls with government officials including the
President, ministers, parliamentarians, judiciary and local councilors, and
through the interactive radio/TV discussion forum, OGI has provided new
channels for free flow of information in Sierra Leone. OGI has so far shown
that meaningful dialogue between the government and citizens are possible
through simple yet innovative means. Ultimately, sustainability and expansion
of these and additional channels of information and communication, at national,
district, chiefdom and village levels will lead to further enhancement of citizen
participation in the public sphere as well as government transparency and
accountability.
26

27. ANNEX 1: Photos from OGI 2008-2009
Top left: Innocent, a popular musician, performs OGI theme song during town
hall meeting to encourage youth and women to participate
Top right: Parliamentary town hall meeting in Kabala, Koinadugu District,
brought together a large number of community members including youth,
children and women
Bottom left: Pujehun residents ask questions to Members of Parliament during a
town hall meeting
Bottom right: Residents of Kenema District listen to their parliamentarians
27

28. Top left: The President`s visit to the Teko rice farms in Makeni
Top right: One out of five lamps at this operating table was found to be in
working condition during a parliamentary field visit in Kenema Government
Hospital
Bottom left: OGI team and the government delegation inspect the Mattru Jong
Prison facility in Bonthe District
Bottom right: “OGI Hour – Have Your Say in Governance” on Land Reform
28

29. ANNEX 2: Sample questionnaire
OGI Town Hall Meeting Feedback Survey
Kambia Town, Kambia District
31 October 2009
Participant’s occupation: _____________________________
Gender: _______________ Age: _____________________
Your opinion is very important to us. Please assist us in evaluating this town hall
meeting. The information collected will be used in planning future activities. Please
be brief in your responses.
1. Where did you hear about this OGI town hall meeting in Kabala? (circle all that apply)
• Radio (please specify what radio and the time/day)
• Newspaper
• Street announcement
• Poster
• Friend/colleague
• Other (please specify)
2. How did you benefit from this town hall meeting? (provide a brief response in the space below)
3. What topics discussed during the meeting were you interested in the most? (provide a brief
response in the space below)
4. How did this meeting change your perception towards the justice sector?
5. How can the community ensure that the justice system within the community is improved?
(provide a brief response in the space below)
6. This town hall meeting contributed to transparency in the justice system. (circle one)
Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree
7. This town hall meeting improved my understanding of the legal and justice system. (circle one)
29

30. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree
8. Based on your experiences from this event, what can OGI do to improve your trust in the justice
system? (provide a brief response in the space below)
9. Overall, how would you evaluate this town hall meeting? (circle one option)
Excellent Good Fair Poor
30

31. ANNEX 3: List of Past “OGI Hour – Have Your Say in Governance”
12 live TV and radio programs were completed on the following topics between
June and August 2009:
1) Topic: Politics today
Panelists: Secretary Generals of APC, SLPP, PMDC.
2) Topic: “Bumbuna Hydro – why the hold-up?”
Panelists: Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee for Energy and Water Resources, President of
the Coalition of Civil societies
3) Topic: Explaining OGI Concept
Panelist: Karamoh Kabba, National Coordinator for OGI and Umarr Sesay,
OGI Focal Person
4) Topic: Youth Unemployment
Panelists: Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Chairman: Minister of
Education, Youth and Sports, President of Coalition of Civil Societies
(CSOs), Sierra Leone Youth Ambassador
5) Topic: Functions of the Parliament
Panelists: Clerk of Parliament, Deputy Chair of Legislative Committee, and
CSO representative (Campaign for Good Governance)
6) Topic: “When I become President”
Panelists: Apex International School essay finalists
7) Topic: The 5th Region and the Office of Diaspora
Panelists: Executive Director of the Office of Diaspora (ODA)
8) Topic: Gender Rights and Laws
Panelists: Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
Judiciary, President of 50/50
31

32. 9) Topic: RERUN of Gender Rights and Laws
Panelists: Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
Judiciary, President of 50/50
10) Topic: Land Reform
Panelist: Minister of Lands, Deputy Administrator and Registrar General,
CSO Representative (National Youth Awareness Forum)
11) Topic: Foreign exchange and price increase
Panelists: Minister Trade and Industry; Commissioner for Consumer Affairs,
and Bank Governor
12) Topic: Traffic Safety
Panelists: Assistant Inspector General of Police, Executive Director of
SLRTA, President of Drivers’ Union
32

33. ENDNOTE
i
UNDP (2010). “Human Development Report 2010 – Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human
Development.” UNDP. Home page on-line. Available from
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/; Internet; accessed January 29, 2011.
ii
Mo Ibrahim Foundation (2010). “2010 Edition of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.” Mo
Ibrahim Foundation. Home page on-line. Available from
http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en/section/the-ibrahim-index; Internet; accessed January 29,
2011.
iii
Transparency International. “Corruption Perceptions Index.” Transparency International. Home
page on-line. Available from http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi;
Internet; accessed January 29, 2011.
iv
The Republic of Sierra Leone (2009) “An Agenda for Change: Second Poverty Reduction
Strategy (PRSP) 2008-2012.” Sierra Leone Conference 2009. Home page on-line. Available from
http://sierraleoneconference2009.org/; Internet; accessed January 13, 2011.
v
UNDP (2002). “Human Development Report 2002 – Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented
World.” UNDP. Home page on-line. Available from
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2002_EN_Complete.pdf; Internet; accessed January 13, 2011.
vi
Amartya Sen. Development as Freedom (New York: Anchor Books, 1999), 153.
vii
UNDP (2003). “Access to Information Practice Note.” UNDP. Home page on-line. Available
from http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/overview/pub_acc_2i.html; Internet; accesses January 13. 2011
viii
Article 19 (2007). “Access to information: An Instrumental Right for Empowerment.” Article 19.
Home page on-line. Available from
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/ati-empowerment-right.pdf; Internet; accessed January 13,
2011.
ix
UNDP (2003).
x
Sen. 1999, 151.
xi
DFID (2006). “Eliminating World Poverty: Making Governance Work for the Poor. DFID.” DFID.
Home page on-line. Available from www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm68/6876/6876.pdf;
Internet; accessed January 29, 2011.
xii
UNDP (2003)
xiii
Sina Odugbemi & Thomas Jacobson, “Governance Reform under Real-World Conditions,” in
Governance Reform under Real-world conditions: Citizens, Stakeholders, and Voice, ed. S.
Odugbemi and T. Jacobson (Washington DC: The World Bank, 2008), 4.
xiv
Fondation Hirondelle. “2010 Media Use Survey Sierra Leone.” Fondation Hirondelle. Home
page on-line. Available from
http://www.hirondelleusa.org/news/new-sierra-leone-survey-results/; Internet; accessed January 29,
2011.
xv
UNDP. “UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: A Practice Note on Engagement.” UNDP. Home
page on-line. Available from
http://www.undp.org/partners/civil_society/publications/policies_and_strategic_documents/UNDP_a
nd_Civil_Society_Organizations_A_Policy_of_Engagement_2001.pdf; Internet; accessed January
13, 2011.
xvi
Michelle Delaney, How Can Communication Process Strengthen Democracy in Post-conflict
settings? (United Kingdom: Unpublished, 2009), 45-46.
xvii
Delaney. 2009, 45.
xviii
UNDP (2003)
xix
Delaney. 2009, 52-53.
33