By: Ilyasa Baa
The Bank Governor, Dr. Kelfala Kallon has come under serious scrutiny by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) with Non – Governmental Organization (NGO) status describing him as inconsistent.
Describing the Bank Governor further, the Executive Director of Health Alert, Victor Lansana Koroma said, “this Bank Governor misfires. He told the people to take the old money to the bank and change to the new ones to keep at home”.
He said the old money is being recycled and given out by the banks which should not have been the case since the Central Bank is trying to gather the old notes. He called on the government to take action and settle the current constraint NGOs are going through with regards to the directives of the Central Bank which placed NGOs on the Le 30 million categories the banks are allowing people to take.
He said the new policy undermines the work of NGOs, especially those who are receiving donor funds. He stressed that NGOs should be allowed to take the amount they need to implement their projects since there is a timeline for project implementation and reporting. Victor Lansana Koroma expressed that they are finding it difficult to transact using cheques since their suppliers are calling for cash instead.
“Our budgets are huge money, especially working for days in the provinces where transportation refunds are due to be given to participants”, he noted, adding that there is a need for the Bank Governor to handle the situation accordingly.
He said there is a need for the policy to be revisited and create more space for NGOs, CSOs and other private business entities to be able to operate having full access to their money in the banks.
It could be recalled that the Bank of Sierra Leone had asserted that billions of the new currency had been kept in the homes of people depriving the banks of cash.
As a way of damage control, the Bank had to put in place measures to keep the economy going despite the current situation; a move being described as having too much Bureaucracy.
