By Saio Marrah.
The Informal Workers Organization (IWO), an advocacy group has in an advocacy Paper urged the government to place premium on the country’s informal workforce.
Reading out the document to newsmen at their Aberdeen office in Freetown, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of IWO, Chelcy Alma Heroe said that ensuring value for the informal economy or workforce should be done by strengthening and providing sufficient subvention to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as it has been done for the Ministry of Education.
She noted that the majority of informal works are not performed in a normal office space but rather in an informal setting where vendors or service providers and customers transact on a daily basis.
They include those engaged in petty trading, taxi or rickshaw “keke” driving, shop attendants, plumbing, carpentry, barbing, and street sweeping, she said.
The document also urged the government to formalize the informal economy as it will help enhance job creation and productivity, reduces social exclusion, and help increase the country’s gross domestic product. It also highlighted the need to“place value on the technical and vocational studies for skills enhancement, especially for informal workers.”
It also wants the government to improve on the terms and conditions of services aiming at promoting decent work, especially for the informal economy.
The paper also condemned the complete destruction of the Abacha Street Sellers’s stalls without adequate notification and relocation plans for them to continue their trading and enhance their livelihoods.
It however reminded the informal workers about their duties and responsibilities as enshrined in section 13 of the 1991 constitution, which includes protection and preservation of public properties and loyalty to the state. Premium was also placed on them treating their jobs with the utmost care and professionalism necessary.
After strongly condemning the August 10th violence that happened in parts of Freetown, Makeni, Kamakwie, and Lungi, that claimed lives and properties, the position paper also noted that in upholding human rights and the rule of law, the state under the principle of responsibility to protect its citizens, have obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the fundamental human rights of its citizens, and non-citizens residing in its territory.
It also noted that in a social contract, both the government and the citizens have different roles and obligations to perform for the peaceful operation of the rule of law and democracy.
It however highlighted the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all individuals without any discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, or political opinion, among others, as enshrined in chapter III of the 1991 constitution of Sierra Leone.
It also noted that the right to life, peaceful protest, and freedom to assembly and association are the foundation of all rights enshrined in the constitution of Sierra Leone and other international human rights standards without which the other rights cannot be realised and enjoyed.
It there pointed out that good politics is a key driver for development, unity, peaceful transfer of power, constructive opposition, national cohesion, and unity, while bad politics on the other hand has been used as a weapon of division, tribalism, violence, incitement, and corruption among many other vices.
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