By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
In highlighting the key challenges faced in the Fiscal Year 2023, the Cabinet Secretariat has expressed concern over the unavailability of Officers for the signing of their performance contract and the appraisals within the stipulated time.
This was contained in the Secretariat’s presentation during bilateral budget discussions for FY 2023 at the Ministry of Finance, Freetown on the 9th of October 2023.
Permanent Secretary Assistant (PSA) to the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the Cabinet Secretariat, Patrick M. Sama in the presentation noted that they were constrained by inadequate and untimely disbursement of funds for FY 2023, and also legal issues surrounding the land assigned for the construction of the Public Service Academy (PSA).
He said that funds were not available to fully implement the electronic archiving of Cabinet papers and documentation and that they experienced substantial delays in eliciting information from several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) on the implementation of cabinet decisions.’
Sama stated that despite the challenges faced by the Secretariat in implementing their projects for FY 2023, they however succeeded in assisting 237 Officers in grades 11 and above in the development of their Performance contracts and conducted mid-year appraisals on the contracts. He added that they also succeeded in the electronic submission of Cabinet papers as opposed to when it was submitted in hard copies.
He also spoke about them conducting two induction trainings on Cabinet Systems and the relationships between Ministers and their Permanent Secretaries. He added that they monitored and reported on the implementation of Cabinet decisions by MDAs and that for FY 2022, the Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communications and Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) upgraded the ICT Infrastructure of the Secretariat to facilitate the E-cabinet system with the provision of Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Laptops and accessories to all Ministers and Deputies.
Sama said improvements were made on monitoring and reporting of the implementation of Cabinet decisions and strategic government policies.
For FY 2024, he stated that if given the required support and funds from the Ministry of Finance, the Secretariat will continue to provide support services for Cabinet meetings and will pursue the acquisition of land for the construction of the Public Service Academy.
Out of a budget estimate of NLE 10 million submitted to the Ministry of Finance, NLE 3 million was approved but allocated just NLE 1.7 million. He then presented a request for the FY 2023/2024 an amount of NLE 15 million to achieve their key deliverables.
Endorsements by Districts Budget Oversight Committees and other key stakeholders for the Ministry of Finance to approve the presented budget climaxed the discussion.
The Cabinet Secretariat exists to support the Executive in making evidence-informed and implementable policy decisions through effective coordination, supervision, and oversight of the Civil Service.
Copyright (c) 2023 Politico (11/10/23)
