President Julius Maada Bio has formally reappointed Benjamin Macfoy as Commissioner for the Western Area at the National Commission for Democracy, NCD, for another five-year term.
For Macfoy, the appointment is less a new chapter than a continuation of a long engagement with civic education and democratic participation dating back to 2002.
“I want to thank President Bio for believing in me and for working with me,” he said, pledging to continue the work he has begun.
Stakeholders in the Western Area have welcomed the reappointment, describing Macfoy as a humble, accessible and committed public servant whose continuity will bring stability and renewed energy to the Commission.
But the significance of the appointment extends beyond one official. In a democracy, the ballot box is only one piece of the puzzle. As political scientist Robert D. Putnam argues in Bowling Alone, democratic institutions depend not only on formal structures, but also on civic participation and the networks that connect citizens to public life
Macfoy has represented the NCD on Sierra Leone’s African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council, while his work at the Commission has included civic education, electoral literacy, curriculum reform and stakeholder engagement.
By 2018, he was publicly leading civic-education activities in the Western Region, including outreach to schools and the distribution of educational materials.
The NCD’s Children for Democracy Clubs have also sought to introduce schoolchildren to democratic principles and responsible citizenship, an approach consistent with the argument in John Dewey’s Democracy and Education that democratic habits are developed through education and participation, rather than simply taught as political vocabulary.
That task remains significant in Sierra Leone. The International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy research has repeatedly highlighted the importance of citizen participation, institutional accountability and inclusive political engagement in sustaining democratic systems.
Macfoy’s recent work has included chairing a Regional Democracy Roundtable in September 2025, bringing together civil society representatives, youth and women’s groups, traditional authorities, local government officials, policymakers and media practitioners to discuss democratic governance and citizen participation.
He also played a public-education role around the Proportional Representation system introduced for the 2023 parliamentary elections.
The Electoral Commission recorded more than 3.3 million registered voters for the 2023 elections, a reminder that electoral systems affect a constituency measured in millions, not merely political institutions.
For the NCD, the challenge now goes beyond explaining how elections work. It is whether civic education can translate into sustained citizen participation, informed public debate and greater understanding of how institutions are held to account.
That is the wider test facing Macfoy in his second term under President Bio’s administration: not simply keeping the machinery of civic education running, but ensuring that democratic knowledge reaches citizens where political decisions ultimately have consequences in communities, schools and households across the Western Area.
