By Hajaratu Kalokoh
Lecturers at the University of Sierra Leone (USL) have warned the Ministry of Finance to refrain from “usurping” their powers and settle delays in salary payment.
The Academic Staff Association (ASA) expressed its position in a press statement on Wednesday, 12th February.
The warning about power “usurpation” comes amidst concerns from the Association that the ministry will not just be responsible to pay salaries but will also determine salaries, allowances and be involved in the recruitment and promotion processes in the university. This goes against the spirit of an existing understanding between the government and the lecturers.
In a memo addressed to the university on the 16th of January this year, the Financial Secretary, Sahr Jusu was quoted as saying: “Any salary adjustment, recruitment or promotion done without the concurrence from the ministry of Finance will not be honored.”
ASA, in its statement, gave a 21-day ultimatum to the Ministry to withdraw its position.
The development also raises questions about the central government’s repeated promises to depoliticize academia.
Just last week President Julius Maada Bio reiterated a campaign promise to relinquish the position of chancellor and refrain from administrative decisions in the country’s universities.
Last year the Finance Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Sierra Leone committing the government to take over salary payment for the staff. That shift in responsibility was what laid the foundation for the current complaints from the lecturers.
ASA said the MoU did not shift the responsibility of hiring and promotions in the university to the ministry.
“Members of the ASA are therefore shocked to discover that the ministry of Finance will henceforth determine the payment of salaries and allowances relating to promotion, which was not part of the MoU signed with the University of Sierra Leone,” the statement reads.
“ASA wants the government to note that staff of the University of Sierra Leone were recruited by the University Court and promotions are determined by the relevant committee and not the Government of Sierra Leone. ASA therefore rejects any attempt of the ministry of Finance to usurp the power and responsibilities of its employers – the University Court,” it added.
In their statement on Wednesday, ASA also expressed concern about salary delay and the delay in reviewing the pay structure to reflect the current economic situation of the country.
The Association said it found it unacceptable that the payment of salaries for January, 2020 had to be delayed for about two weeks.
“ASA wishes to remind the government about the main argument put forward for taking over the payment of salaries of university staff which was to avoid unnecessary delays,” it said.
It added: “The government must know that ASA had an agreement with USL that salaries must be paid not later than the 5th of the following month. This agreement is still in place and ASA members want to make it clear that going forward, any of such delay will attract an industrial action and no notice will be given in lieu of the action,”
This is not the first time government has delayed the payment of salaries to lecturers, last year ASA had to call on government to relinquish the responsibility of paying salaries after serious delays in paying them for the months of July and August.
There were also delays in paying lecturers their end of year allowances.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said they had no intention of influencing the recruitment or promotion process of the university.
“We just want to be informed so we can consider the financial implication,” Ahmed Sesay, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, told Politico, adding: “We have seen situations where board members of certain parastatals raise salaries or recruit people without informing us. At the end of the day we must pay these monies, so it is just fair for us all to be on the same page.”
Sesay said the memo that was issued out by the Ministry wasn’t just sent to the university, but was also sent to all public institutions.
Politico learnt the leadership of ASA from FBC and IPAM, the two institutions which raised the concern, met with the Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Turad Senesie, which ended in a deadlock.
ASA FBC president, Williette James, declined to comment in detail.
"The meeting we held today is not meant for media consumption because the talks are continuing. So we cannot give details as at now because we have to hold several other meetings for us to come to conclusion and we have not arrived at any conclusion yet. We just started the talks today," she said on a telephone interview.
This development between the USL ASA and the government comes amidst outcry over reported delay in the payment of salaries of government employees, for which the Finance Ministry has failed to provide any explanation.
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