Running up to the 2018 presidential elections, the ruling SLPP new direction manifesto promised to not only treat corruption as a governance issue but as a national security threat – a message President Julius Maada Bio echoed in his inaugural address on 12th May 2020.
“During my campaigns and since my election, I have said time and time again that this is not going to be the business-as-usual politics and governance of the state. My new government is therefore launching three peaceful democratic wars: first, a War on Indiscipline; second, a War on Corruption; and third, a War on Poverty. These peaceful democratic wars on Indiscipline, Corruption, and Poverty will define my tenure of office, and I am determined to deliver on my promises,” he said.
However, an Afrobarometer report launched on Tuesday 15th September 2020 has ranked the Office of the Presidency as the third most corrupt institution in the country (38%) below the top-ranking Sierra Leone Police with 61%, seconded by Sierra Leone Parliament with 41%.
According to the report, although demand for accountable governance has increased in Sierra Leone, very few citizens believe MPs are effective in holding the president and government accountable.
“The study also found that MPs are among the least trusted officials and are widely perceived as corrupt,” added the report.
Meanwhile, some key findings in the report furthered that for seven in 10 Sierra Leoneans (71%), it is more important to have a government that is accountable to its citizens than one that “gets things done” and the demand for accountable governance has increased by 28 percentage points since 2012 (43%).
“Similarly, six in 10 citizens (60%) expect MPs to provide financial assistance for individuals in their communities, but only 13% say MPs “sometimes” or “often” give out resources to help community members,” the report maintained.
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides ‘reliable’ data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. Seven rounds of surveys have been completed in up to 38 countries between 1999 and 2018.
Round 8 surveys in 2019/2021 are planned in at least 35 countries.
Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples.
The Afrobarometer team in Sierra Leone, led by the Institute for Governance Reform, interviewed 1,200 adult Sierra Leoneans in March 2020.
A sample of that size yielded country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Previous surveys were conducted in Sierra Leone in 2012, 2015, and 2018.
