February 15, 2021
Albert Baron Ansu
In what can be described as a mark of humility and trust in team play, the Finance Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa has appealed to his winning team to rise above unsubstantiated gossips and be steadfast in driving crucial reforms to consolidate gains at the Ministry of Finance for national development.
The Minister says he cannot dignify allegations that are lacking in specific details as a serious minded man who has so much to show in curtailing waste and instilling a sense of fiscal discipline that are paying off.
He alluded to the single treasury account regime introduced by the Ministry of Finance under his charge as one of such reforms that is preventing leakages of public funds, as a control measure.
Jacob Jusu Saffa insists that he is not taking sole credit for these gains that have restored integrity in the Ministry of Finance adding that zero corruption frameworks being mainstreamed across other sectors and among international development partners are currently in place.
The Minister referenced the improved relationship between his ministry and donors since the Sierra Leone Peoples Party, (SLPP) government assumed office, as one area that cannot be buried by distractors making lame cynical claims using partisan lens.
By every stretch of imagination, such an improved relationship with multinational donors including World Bank, AfDB, IMF and other bilateral donors, are in recognition of the astute policies that have been introduced to reform the fiscal management environment, boost revenue collection and control waste in public spending, among other things.
The Finance Minister alluded to fast pace payment of salaries of civil servants and the security forces, quality infrastructural development, debt renegotiations as tangible result areas that are in sync with the agenda to drift from the past.
A-Z Newspaper has especially sought to follow up on the work in progress about salary harmonization that seeks to create fairer reward system based on qualification and experience. Since last year, we have captured engagement with lawmakers on this process with the Public Sector Reform Unit towards the creation of a Wages and Compensation Commission.
Disparity in wages is no doubt, one inherited problem from the past administration that led to the perennial salary delays and inequalities; especially for low cadre workers. And we are witnessing the clean up the Finance Ministry has set out to deliver on.
On pay harmonization, we recognize the fact that the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abbass Bundu, had intimated that consultations have been ongoing to end inherited wages and pension disparity.
Spot the monumental increment made for pension retirees in the 2019 budget from Le 20,000 to 250,000. This is evidence enough to tell anyone that things have been pathetic, without a human face and the new administration is building national consensus around wage harmonization.
Ministry of Finance sources say it is still work in progress where the harmonization of pension laws is of essence.
Our inside Finance Ministry sources says those printing out purported 2018 pay roll sheets to discredit the Finance Minister are just suggesting that things have been even worse off up to 2017. The source notes the Commission of Inquiry findings that have come out with outrageous figures of unexplained wealth involving former public servants that worked at the Ministry of Finance. These are people who never considered salary harmonization as means of creating a system of fair reward system that is sustainable and people centered.
A-Z newspaper has gathered fact about the sincerity of purpose that is driving the consultative process to have a comprehensive pay reform initiative, capable of sustainably attracting and retaining the right skill sets in the public service.
The Finance Minister says this process is in tandem with the government’s investment in human capital as captured in the national development agenda.
Finance Ministry sources have told us that those who cynical or think that this process is going to be a quick-fix will be disappointed.
The workflow in the entire process connects with the new National Revenue Authority Bill that has been introduced in Parliament to ensure that efficiency is injected in the Authority. The process is bound to impact payroll regularization among other things, especially in terms of assuring affordability and predictability. It is not a knee jerk approach, Finance Ministry sources have reassured.
In the provincial consultations that have been undertaken to gets inputs from stakeholders in the payroll harmonization, process, no less a person than the Secretary of Cabinet John Sumailah said the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Finance and Office of the Cabinet Secretary recruited an international consultant to work on the legal frameworks and appropriate systems and procedures that are required for a viable Wages and Pay Commission.
A-Z Newspaper is aware about the complementarity and technical coordination from the Law Officers and Human Resource departments of the Public Sector Reform Units in all of the payroll harmonization efforts.
In the meantime, Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa is elated to talk about core investment in human capital that is paying off.
“We were able to finance free education program, which many thought was impossible,” he said.
Finance Secretary Sahr Lamin Jusu also provided justification in the benchmark used for the Best Ministry accolade. He cited the effective leadership provided in the midst of COVID 19 and the restoration of donor confidence in the Finance Ministry.
One evidence of the donor confidence has been identified in the mobilization of $380 million dollars between January and October of 2020, he says.
Quick Action Rapid Economic Response of 500 billion Leones as a special credit facility to ensure the availability of essential commodities at this challenging time of COVID 19 is among the laudable things attributed to the Finance Team, A-Z Newspaper has gathered.
An estimated 11,000 persons with disability benefited from cash transfer from the ministry and 29,000 informal sector workers across the country.
Small Medium Enterprises, through the National Micro Finance Program dubbed MUNAFA are also recipients of support from the Ministry of Finance, it has been revealed.
