Accountability Now Radio Programme

Organisers explain that, when local councils were created in Sierra Leone, high expectations arose for development. However, many of these councils have not delivered results. Even though laws required local councils to publish their income and expenditure statements, most local councils failed to comply, breeding mistrust and causing communities to demand clarification for their shortfalls in the redevelopment process. In response to this problem, Accountability Now was created to provide information on the income and expenditures of local councils, presenting their prepared financial statements with supporting analysis from a diversity of voices.

The programme is co-produced by the Independent Radio Network and three radio stations - one from each district in the broadcast region - with technical assistance from SFCG's Talking Drum Studio. The joint production is aired on the three participating stations, putting information out for government officials and residents. Grouping the districts together creates a competitive mechanism while managing expectations as citizens see how their council is performing in comparison to others in the region. It mobilises citizens to ask questions of their councils about priorities and progress towards outlined plans. With information available monthly, citizens can see what kind of resources are available for development in their area, how their taxes are being used, and track variances in spending that might signal corruption.

According to the organisers, civil society groups have followed up on the broadcasts by visiting development locations to independently verify the quality and quantity of inputs matched to outputs. Accountability Now has also mounted community pressure on councils to improve performance and explain their actions to constituents. By facilitating discussion within and between communities Accountability Now prompts more accountable and transparent behaviour by leaders and citizens alike.

Democracy and Governance

According to organisers, in addition to promoting accountable behaviour, the programme has served to generate increased revenue for the councils through information campaigns on the purposes of taxes and how they are being spent. As people have better understood why they are paying taxes to government, they have become more willing to do so, making more money available for local development projects. Organisers say the programme represents the first time that government spending information has been publicly available on the radio, the primary source of information in Sierra Leone.

As of this writing, the programme is produced at the regional level on a quarterly basis. SFCG would like to scale up the programme to production on a monthly basis, as well as to introduce the model in neighbouring Liberia.