Introduction
The establishment of the Ministry of Political and Public Affairs (MPPA) could be traced as far back as 1996. It was initially called the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs and later re-named the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. Its core mandate was to act as a liaison between the Executive and Parliament, as well as, advance the development of a democratic culture in Sierra Leone. It was charged with the responsibility of maintaining contact with the Sierra Leonean public including traditional authorities, political parties, interest and pressure groups and civil society organizations. However, its policy objectives were reviewed in 2010.
Currently, the Ministry is entrusted with the fundamental task of developing policies and programmes geared towards the promotion of good governance in Sierra Leone through the enhancement of public and Stakeholder participation; political awareness building and the monitoring of governance trends.
Accordingly, the government invigorated the decentralization of the Ministry by reconstituting and expanding its staff complement which includes: the Director, Policy Analyst, Public and Political Affairs Officers, Desk Complaint Officer and Regional Coordinators. These staff are charged with the responsibility of discharging and popularizing the policy objectives of MPPA and monitor the implementation of government policies and programmes.
The Ministry also has the responsibility of providing oversight functions to established agencies including; the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the National Commission for Democracy (NCD).
The MPPA works in collaboration with a host of national entities and Democratic Institutions responsible for promoting a democratic culture and civic education amongst the citizenry, including the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) and the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC).
The mission of the MPPA is to develop policies and programmes geared towards promoting democracy and good governance in Sierra Leone through public and stakeholders participation in governance activities.
To enhance an advance a structured socio-political and democratic culture that will serve as the engine for sustainable peace and socio-economic growth in Sierra Leone.
The specific policy objectives/mandate include the following:
- Serve as liaison between the government and the general public;
- Receiving complaints, appeals from the public and forward to the President;
- Advancing the development of a democratic political culture in Sierra Leone;
- Acting as liaison between the Government and Civil Society;
- Providing a link between the Government and Parliament;
- Monitoring the progress of the Executive’s Legislative Programmes in Parliament;
- Maintaining contacts with the public, traditional rulers , political parties, interest/ pressure groups in society;
- Identifying national issues of concern as and when necessary and encouraging public debates on such issues;
- Monitoring public opinion on political and other related matters vis-a-vis the performance of Government;
- Propagating the political programmes of Government; and
- Collaborating with relevant Government MDA’s, national and international organizations and institutions.
- To maintain contacts with the public, traditional rulers, , political parties, interest/ pressure groups in society;
- To identify national issues of concern as and when necessary and encourage public debate on such issues;
- To monitor public opinion on political and other related matters vis-a-vis the performance/ of Government;
- To propagate the political programmes of Government; and
- Collaborate with relevant Government MDA’s, national and international organizations and institutions.
