By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The charity, ActionAid Sierra Leone, has launched its budget for the 2020 working year. The budget, which has a total expenditure of Le11 billion, will be invested in the implementation of the organization’s five-year work plan, officials said.
The revelation was made at a public disclosure of ActionAid’s annual programs on Wednesday, which officials said was part of the culture of openness it had been practicing for over a decade.
Executive Director of ActionAid Sierra Leone, Foday Bassie Swarray, said during his address that the public disclosure of their budget gave their stakeholders the opportunity to hold them accountable.
“This place our stakeholders in a better position to demand accountability for the programs we are implementing,” Swarray said, adding: “in as much as we want to hold our government accountable, we must start accountability with ourselves.”
Swarray also encouraged stakeholders to follow through on the monitoring of AA-SL’s programs.
“Most of the time, we will go the whole year without having people coming to us and asking about the status of the projects or our commitments to the programs,” he said.
ActionAid operates in eight districts in the country, including Kono, Bo, Port Loko and Kambia. Its work cuts across 182 communities in all these districts combined.
In the build up to developing this comprehensive document, stakeholders from all eight districts where the organization operates were engaged, and their own portion of the budget were launched in their various districts.
Wednesday’s launch was the climax of this process.
A total of Le5 billion from the budget has been set aside for the organization’s Local Rights Program (LRP). Kono, Bombali and Moyamba have the highest share of investment in the LRPs with more than Le1 billion set aside for each of the three districts.
Investment will also be made in programs like civic participation, women empowerment, and improving public accountability.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Development, Dr Robert Chakandas, who was the keynote speaker at the event, praised ActionAid’s effort towards transparency and accountability.
“This particular aspect of accountability is what many NGO’s have struggled with,” he said.
“It is not only about their budget, it is also about how they work with their stakeholders,” Dr Chakandas later added.
Alhassan Kargbo, Deputy Director of Public Information and Education at the Anti-Corruption Commission, also praised ActionAid’s “openness”.
“The level of openness we have seen in how much they are receiving is commendable. The biggest problem we have in the fight against corruption is openness,” Kargbo said.
“I have seen organizations go the extra mile to hide what exactly they receive,” he added.
The launch of the budget and program was followed by deliberations by representatives of the beneficiaries of AA-SL’s programs. The participants in the deliberations also included other NGOs and related government ministries like the Ministries of Gender, Social Welfare and Development.
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