Freetown, 13th December 2024 (SLENA)
At the Foreign Service Academy on Tower Hill in Freetown, the Honourable Minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Political Affairs (MoPAPA), Amara Kallon made public an integral document entitled, “Strategic Roadmap for Public Service Reforms,” a document with key thematic areas directed to having not only a better but a result oriented public service architecture for Sierra Leone.
The launching of the document brought together stakeholders from various sectors of government, the international community, civil society, the media and a host of other concerned institutions.
Whilst outlining the goodies established in the document, Amara Kallon explicitly mentioned that his Ministry remains poised on the transformation of the public service as clearly prioritized by the New Direction Administration of President Bio, captured precisely in Pillar 5 of the Big 5 Medium-Term National Development Plan for 2024-2030.
Down memory lane, the Minister explained that MoPAPA which was then the Ministry of Political and Public Affairs (MPPA), had very little or no relevance to the public, as it was considered to be some sort of extension of another political party.
Minister Kallon informed that under the leadership of President Bio, MoPAPA is being considered as one of the integral ministries of Government – with a clear mandate directed to revamping the public service architecture, and also disclosing that Sierra Leone is the only country in Africa with a government’s ministry of public administration, mandated solely to having the right reforms for the development of the public service.
The Minister in his statements, applauded staff of MoPAPA for being instrumental towards the success of the ministry and by extension, he also commended the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, amongst others – for the provision of funds directed to the country’s development.
The Honourable Minister in his statements, disclosed that MoPAPA would play what he referred to as the coordinating role, coupled with the mobilization of resources, with the firm confirmation of the essentials outlined in the document, be implemented accordingly by the concerned institutions namely; the Public Sector Reform Unit (PSRU), Public Service Commission (PSC), Human Resources Management Office (HRMO), etc.
The Minister emphasized the importance of the document and the need to having a robust public service for Sierra Leone as compared to other countries across Africa.
Upon further deliberations, Minister Amara Kallon mentioned that the underdevelopment of the public service was as a result of some certain ill factors that have greatly affected the nation, and some of them the Minister stated were: the prolonged governance of one-party state; the devastating decade-long rebel war; and regime change, amongst others – adversely affecting the public service.
Statements of relevance to the document were made by the Chairman – PSC, UN Resident Coordinator, World Bank Country Manager, etc.
The session was climaxed with a line by line powerpoint presentation of the said document by the Director – PSRU and the launch of the document was jointly undertaken by the Hon. Minister and a representative from the Office of the Vice President.
Musa Kamara
SLENA Correspondent
Contact: kaymuzay222@gmail.com /+232 78 155260
