Alpha Amadu Jalloh: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 01 June 2025:
When the Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs, Ambassador Tamba Lamina, stood before the media at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, he unveiled a sweeping plan to create two new districts, carve up Freetown into multiple cities and elevate Lungi Township to city status.
This administrative overhaul, approved by Cabinet only hours earlier, aims ostensibly to strengthen political representation and bring government closer to the people. Yet beneath the rhetoric of decentralization lies the risk of fragmenting communities, unsettling centuries-old land arrangements and tilting the balance in the 2028 elections.
The Cabinet approval authorizes the establishment of Bandajuma District from parts of Bo and Pujehun Districts and Kpangoma District from portions of Kenema and Kailahun Districts. These changes will expand Sierra Leone’s administrative map from 16 to 18 districts.
At the same time, Freetown will be divided into separate municipal entities and Lungi Township, long home to the nation’s primary airport, will be declared a city. According to Minister Lamina, these adjustments will foster economic development, improve service delivery and enhance civic engagement through closer local governance.
In truth, the rushed nature of the announcement, made during the Civic Day Series in Moyamba, raises serious questions about public consultation. While the Ministry of Information and Civic Education’s initiative is laudable for promoting dialogue, there is no record of nationwide stakeholder engagement specific to boundary realignment.
Cabinet papers lack detailed demographic studies, land registry updates or environmental impact assessments. The absence of these documents suggests that political calculation, rather than empirical planning, may have driven the decision.
Equally troubling is the disregard for the social fabric of communities that have existed for generations. In Sierra Leone’s Eastern and Southern Provinces, land and family ties often extend across villages and chiefdoms.
By arbitrarily slicing through these areas, the new districts risk separating kinship networks and communal lands. Such borderlines may split clans and undermine chieftaincy structures that have traditionally provided social cohesion and conflict resolution in rural areas.
Chiefdoms are more than administrative units. They are custodians of land under customary tenure. Under the 1991 Constitution, the protection of property and respect for private and family life are guaranteed rights. Chapter Three, Section 21 of the Constitution stipulates that no person shall be deprived of property without compensation.
But the rush to redraw boundaries without updating land titles or compensating affected families threatens to violate these constitutional safeguards. Without clear legislative provisions, disputes over land ownership and chieftaincy legitimacy are almost certain to follow.
The National Electoral Commission also bears responsibility here. According to statutory mandates, the Commission must delimit electoral constituencies and ward boundaries not less than five years and not more than seven years through transparent, data-driven processes. The Commission’s last boundary report, published in 2017, illustrates the complexity of this task. Yet the government’s announcement overlooked the Commission’s authority, raising the spectre of executive overreach in deciding electoral maps ahead of 2028.
Historically, boundary changes in Sierra Leone have been fraught with controversy. In 2012 and again in 2018, proposed adjustments triggered protests, including among traditional rulers who feared the dilution of their authority.
When former President Ernest Bai Koroma created Falaba and Karene Districts, critics argued that political patronage informed the choices. Today’s proposals echo those missteps and risk a repeat of past errors unless handled with impartiality and rigorous public engagement.
The timing of this announcement is also notable. With the 2028 general elections looming, new administrative units could be used to engineer electoral advantage. By shifting district boundaries, the government can alter the composition of constituencies and wards to favor certain parties.
This practice, often called gerrymandering, undermines the principle of one person, one vote. It also erodes trust in democratic institutions when citizens perceive that lines are drawn not for effective representation but for partisan gain.
Beyond politics, the social and economic implications are profound. New district headquarters and city administrations require infrastructure including offices, housing for officials, roads and water and power supply. Funding these projects will strain an already tight national budget. Salaries for new civil servants and councillors will add recurring costs. For rural communities, the promise of improved service delivery may be hollow if resources are diverted from existing districts without clear financial planning.
In Freetown, the capital city’s division into multiple municipalities could complicate urban governance. Already challenged by traffic congestion, waste management and informal settlements, Freetown’s problems demand coordinated metropolitan solutions.
Fragmenting its administration risks creating competing authorities, overlapping jurisdictions and inconsistent policies. Residents may find themselves caught between rival city councils, each claiming jurisdiction over neighbourhoods and public services.
On the ground, stories are already emerging of families alarmed by the lack of information. In Moyamba, villagers adjacent to the proposed Bandajuma District report that they learned of the change only from radio broadcast summaries. No local town hall meetings were held. No chiefs were formally briefed. No landowners received written notice.
The result is confusion, frustration and fear that their ancestral lands could be reclassified or taxed differently under a new district authority.
To prevent chaos, the government must pause this initiative and convene an inclusive boundary delimitation commission. Such a body should include representatives from the National Electoral Commission, traditional rulers, civil society, the Attorney-General’s office and experts in land administration. It must conduct public hearings in each affected district and city zone, publish draft maps, invite feedback and revise accordingly.
Only through transparent, participatory processes can the integrity of communities and the electoral system be safeguarded.
Ultimately, the promise of better political representation should not come at the expense of social unity, constitutional rights and democratic fairness. Sierra Leone’s progress depends on institutions that command public confidence.
Boundary realignment, if done correctly, can strengthen local governance and development. But if foisted on the people without consultation, it will sow division, inflame land disputes and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the next election.
The government must choose deliberation over haste, inclusion over partisanship and constitutional fidelity over political expediency. Only then can new borders unite rather than divide our nation.
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