March 31, 2021
By: James Kamara-Manneh
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) together with the National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) has on the 30th March, 2021 launched the Citizen’s Budget 2021 at the Ministry of Finance Conference room in Freetown.
The Citizen’s Budget entitled: “Economic Recovery for Job Creation and Human Capital Development.’’
The Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa said economic recovery normally is when you face problems with the economy as a result of poor management or global pandemic (Covid-19), where there is doubt in the economy the government will want to recover. He said government lost trillion of Leones (100m USD) in the year 2020 as a result of Corona Virus.
J.J Saffa said that government is committed to public scrutiny and called on all stakeholders to participate in the citizen’s budget process. He said the citizen’s budget is not replacing the actual budget it’s just a simplified version of it, and will help the public to keep an eye on what government is doing or about to do. He said government is committed to transparency and accountability, the citizen’s budget is the major tool that will aid citizen’s to hold government accountable.
He said in the budget many areas have been created for Jobs, such as agriculture as the governments have provided farmers with seeds and fertilizers. This will enhance rural and private sector productivity by providing them with tractors which the government has done. He said the government is targeting 20,000 hectares of various crops to be directly supported by government, while the 10,000 hectares will be managed by communities.
In this regard the minister argued, the government is expecting about 50,000 jobs to be created through agriculture for youths.
He reiterated that the 100 billion Leone MUNAFA fund that was launched by the President Bio is another avenue for job creation, and that is one of the angle for bread and butter.
In his unveiling address, the Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa said the budget basically shows revenue as against financial expenditure, by giving update on revenue collected in the last financial year and the ones you expect to collect in the coming years. He said revenue is made of two parts; revenue and external revenue. In the external revenue the Minister said are monies you expect from government partners, while expenditure gives an analysis of what you will spend in the coming and the past years.
The Minister further dilated that few years ago the government introduced the citizen’s budget. This document is important because it will allow civil societies, members of the Fourth Estate to hold government accountable and it will help citizens to understand what is contained in the expenditure budget, Finance Minister said.”
4,100 people are set to be beneficiaries in the first phase. He said benefiting from the loan will create jobs within communities and family members and that is the focus of the Bio government.
Another area of job creation is from the numerous road construction projects that are ongoing all around the country and Sierra Leoneans are being employed to do the construction and infrastructural development that also windows of job creating.
He said the theme of the budget is appropriate because budget allocation is reflective of the theme, that’s why the document is easy to read and comprehend, and called on citizens to participate in the budget process.
However, the Technical Finance Adviser to the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Cyprian Kamaray said the document can be accessible on the Ministry of Finance website. He further stated that the document shows that the government is committed to promoting transparency in their finance expenditure, and the essence is to make it very simple for citizen to grasp.
He described the document as a tool that the government will use to achieve key priorities for 2021. He said it will also answer questions like what are the key priorities, where is government getting money to fund key projects, and how these monies are expended. He said this document will encourage citizens to question government on the use of public fund and its key priorities.
Adding his voice, the Chairman for National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) Mr. Kalilu Totangi said after thorough scrutiny from their side he saw the importance of the citizen’s budget and decided to put together an animation version of what is indicated in the document. This will educate the public, due to the fact that national budgets documents are so voluminous and has been abridged to be reader friendly.
Mr. Kalilu Totangi said that this launched document can be used to ask meaningful questions from government and also use it as a tool for personal reasons. This initiative aims at promoting greater public participation in public finance decisions and policies, so as to enhance accountability and transparency in the management of public resources.
The National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) has the mandate to educate people on rights and responsibilities, duties and obligations to the state, which include raising awareness on how public funds are used and how the public participate in decision-making processes. NaCCED has seen the expedient need to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance to further the government’s accountability and transparency initiatives.
It is worthy to note that the citizen budget is a document that shows how government raises and distributes public fund of the state. It is also the means by which government provides services and other needs of the state. It is an official pronouncement of the citizen’s priorities and programmes.