Citizen oversight Bureaus have emerged as a citizenship mechanism for social control against corruption. This paper aims to show an external overview of these external organizations, which means that investigations do not lead to an audit, but just general perceptions of the citizenship. Objective: This research aimed to describe the different perceptions of how the inhabitants see the work of the Citizen Oversight Bureau, and how local authorities have been working during the last eight years based on the Citizen Oversight Bureaus in the municipality of Sincelejo, Colombia. Method: A descriptive study was done through a random sampling, with a population of over 18 years old people. 310 citizens were surveyed including 54 members of the Citizen Oversight Bureaus. A survey that included the variable of “transparency” was used as a mythological guide, which has been applied by the NGO Transparency International in different similar studies. Results: the general citizenship is not informed by the Citizen Oversight Bureaus though the efforts done in this regard by the Community Development Office in the municipality of Sincelejo. A large proportion of citizens are unaware of the mechanisms used by the Citizen Oversight Bureaus to inform the people about the achievements reached by this Office. It also shows that the last three majors of the municipality, Ospina and Merlano have been poorly evaluated in terms of transparency, and the current Major Jesus Paternina has been evaluated with medium score of transparency. Recommendations: Working with management indicators; broadcasting printed information; training to the members of the Citizen Oversight Bureaus; executing effective mechanisms for communication in order to promote transparency in the management the processes related to local authorities.