June 4, 2021
The Chief Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa has through the cabinet Minister John Sumailla mandated all relevant Permanent Secretaries to assume more sense of commitment to the Open Government Partnership towards Sierra Leone national Action Plan 4.
The Minister was delivering a keynote at the consultative meeting of OGP Steering Committee members inclusive of state and not state actors at Radison Blu, 3rd June 2021.
He said the government of President Julius Maada Bio inherited various some good some bad and they had to drop the bad ones and took onboard the good ones. He referred to the OGP as one such policy they inherited in a weak form and was used as a tool of propaganda.
He said issues contained in the OGP are in consonance with the Sierra Leone Peoples Party manifesto in the areas of promoting transparency and accountability, inclusive government, building human capital, service delivery.
He said the fact that the IMF and World Bank have reaffirmed confidence in the government fiscal policy performance that is in tandem with commitment areas in the national action plan.
The British High Commission Political Donal Ahern used the occasion to laud the government for making significant gains in National Action Plan 3 and registered the commitment of the British government towards attainment of other milestones.
The event was chaired by the Chairman of the National Council Civic Education and Development Kalilu Totangi as the focal point under the oversight of the Ministry of Information and Communications. He said there was a lull in OGP activities since 2018 when President Bio received the OGP Support Working Group from Washington and pledged support to deliver on the commitments.
He said the President has a laser focus on corruption and has recorded success stories in reforms that are evident in access to information, gender policy, open parliament, civic liberty.
There various statements delivered by state and non state actors that constitute the steering committee.
Deputy Minister Solomon Jamiru also alluded to the 2018 OGP high level delegation from Washington DC that visited the President. He said then the President reiterated commitment to the process and appointed the Ministry of Information and Communication as the OGP Ministerial lead.
He cited the OGP principles namely, transparency, accountability, citizens engagement, access to education, among other things. He noted that there has been a recalibration to focus on broader thematic areas that are in sync with the Mid Term National Development Plan. He said in this critical global effort they are not going to leave anyone behind.
The event provided space for civil society to speak and the general comments also stressed the need for collaborative efforts in co-creating systems that will ensure interface platform between government and citizens. Private sector accountability and beneficial ownership was one core issue that was stressed by represented of civil society.
Speaking via zoom link was representative from the Middle East and Africa represent who acknowledged that Sierra has the ripe environment in consolidating the gains.
There were interactive sessions and the chairman of the program Kalilu Totangi highlighting the eight commitment areas. He urged attendees especially from the public sector to rise to the occasion.