Sierra Leone’s Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) has expressed concerns over the government’s continued failure to disburse statutory transfers to local councils for the 2025 fiscal year and the partial, delayed payments for 2024.
BAN, a coalition of seven local and international civil society organizations focused on fiscal transparency, citizen participation, and accountability in public financial management, says no council has received its 2025 allocation. Many, it adds, are still awaiting outstanding payments from last year.
The network warns that the shortfall is leaving councils unable to provide critical services in education, healthcare, agriculture, water and sanitation, and rural infrastructure.
“This persistent failure to release funds is crippling local governance. It widens the gap between government promises and actual development,” said BAN chairman Abu Brima.
In 2024, local councils were allocated NLe 199.8 million but received only 61 percent of the funds. For 2025, the budget was revised to NLe 287.4 million, yet no disbursements have been made so far.
BAN is calling on the Ministry of Finance to immediately release all outstanding payments and to publish a transparent, time-bound schedule for disbursements. It is also urging Parliament, the Public Accounts Committee, and citizens to demand accountability, warning that without timely funding, the country’s decentralization agenda will remain an empty pledge.
