State House for sale – Who decides who wins 2012?
In 2007, the country was ready for change and President Ernest Koroma won 51 percent of the valid votes. President Koroma as Chief of State promised to clean the mess in State House, run the country as a business and introduced his Agenda for Change, Attitudinal Behavioural Change, Open Government Initiative and Office of the Diaspora. His team like the prestige and they are very fast to chose privatisation as an alternative instead of resignation. I will therefore start to assess each ministry’s performance soon and identify members that are a burden to our Chief of State.
It is shameful to read that President Koroma wants to privatise the National Power Authority (NPA) because his minister and policy advisers are unable to develop business strategies, strong internal controls that are used in the private sector to turn around failed ministries, departments and agencies. President Koroma decides to invest millions of dollars from World Bank on an energy project without ensuring that there are adequate internal controls. Sierratel and NPA are two departments where the government is wasting money like pouring water into a bucket full of holes.
I have called on this government to make necessary reforms before investing donor funds and also called on him to reshuffle his team. However, ministers and department heads have given me deaf ears on issues of public interest and President Koroma will be held responsible come 2012. President Koroma should be responsible to the electorate as they/we are his employers and will decide to give him opportunity to work in State House or eject him. If he is ejected then his political career might very well be over for good.
As a Deployable Civilian Expert trained to advise government on governance, operational management, strategic communication and helping to setup local and central governments; I wonder why we have to elect politicians that will hire friends, academics, doctors and professors to manage ministries, departments and agencies when they are unfit to make turn around.
Our population is less than the population in Lagos, Nigeria. Politicians and government costs a lot of money and they continue to fail in every area to meet performance target, by providing roads, electricity, security, judicial system, and health care in an economic, efficient and effective way. The so called leaders that parade the country as doctors and professors should be used to train the civil service. Even when it comes to civil service training I am a bit skeptical if they will be able to deliver it taking value for money into consideration.
President Koroma should chose smart, ambitious, opinionated people as advisers. A real leader reaches out to such people; learn from arguments and changes tactics without embarrassment when their advices are better. A leader that will try to fake strategy, arrogance, pride and constant domination will not fix the problem.
Strategy and Policy Unit vs Agenda for Change
The Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) should be scrapped because the SPU have been unable to develop compliance strategy to keep MDAs out of trouble when civil servants deviate from acceptable behaviour. New Policy Advisers should be recruited that will be in a position to establish policies, and procedures to prevent misconduct. A Code of Conduct should be tailored to Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) and theses standards should be communicated effectively.
SPU should be able to implement modern corporate governance through oversight, monitoring and reporting system. This should be different from audit performed by Auditors General department. This will include credible review and assessment of exposure and provide civil servants and external authorities evidence of an active system of prevention and deterrence.
SPU should set consistent enforcement and disciplinary mechanism. A disciplinary code or policy is an important code of conduct. It communicates to civil servants and ways management will apply consistent disciplinary measures.
Anti-Corruption and Attorney General
The Commissioner and Minister of Justice are still silent on recovery of waste reported in our last audit report. Recovering this waste which arose mainly from theft, fraud or serious irregularities in MDAs will lead to salary increase and will also act as a preventive and deterrent strategy.
The following is a summary showing loss of cash in MDAs from the audit report:
- Losses of Cash
Total losses of cash for periods up to 31st December 2007 totalled Le109,874,427,557.00; $4,517,302.41; £12,808.00; €3,596.86; ¥313,639.00 and N100,000. Out of these amounts, only the sum of Le1,625,570,234.00 were verified to have been brought to account by various MDAs.
- Losses of Stores
In the same vein, losses from Stores amounted to Le1,619,635,681.00 and $217,500. These amounts are yet to be recovered from either individuals or the MDAs concerned.
- Arrears of Revenue
Arrears of revenue, to the tune of Le17,903,074,676.00; $324,639.73 and N125,000.00, for periods up to 31st December 2007 had still not been recovered.
- Losses from Schools and Other Educational Institutions
Losses from Schools and Other Educational Institutions attracted not only cash but also large arrears of school fees; loans/salary advances unpaid and unclaimed salaries. A detailed analysis of these losses for periods up to 31st December 2007 is given below:
| School Fees not brought to account Le | Loans/Salary Advances
Le |
Arrears of School Fees
Le |
Losses (cash)
Le |
|
571,212,724 |
117,967,301 |
907,802,596 |
1,128,612,826 |
| £1,400 | |||
|
$6,875 |
| Unclaimed Salaries
Le |
Recovery
Le |
Pending
Le |
| 163,838,011 | 398,319,140 | 2,491,114,310 |
|
£1,400 |
||
|
$6,875 |
The author Dylan Sogie-Thomas CFE, CertIA, CertIFR, PG Dip, ACCA Finalist is a student in Masters in Corporate Governance/Graduate ICSA at the London South Bank University United Kingdom. His research is titled An Overview of Corporate Governance, Accountability and Performance Management in Sierra Leone. sogiethomas@yahoo.com
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yankay seisay
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Another article from the left. Is British gas British ? Is british airways BRITISH? There are many factors other than just the ones you measured that make up a reason for any government business to be privatised. So mr bookworm stop the unbalanced criticisms of the president. you are writing as if everything was fine before this humble servant came to power.Yes Sierra Leone is backward in terms of roads,electricity the list goes on and on courtesy of it very bookworms . I have being to lagos, it is not to be compared with the whole of Sierra Leone because Nigerian put there money where there mouth is and they know what it takes to bluff. Salone men , educated and uneducated like me just like to hype and rap negatively . Educated folks in Sierra Leone are all jumping into politics because of get rich quick plans.
7th November 2010