By Saio Marrah
The Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, has announced a 75 percent pay rise for all security personnel in Sierra Leone starting 2021 financial year.
The announcement was made as part of the budget presentation on Friday. According to Saffa, the increase will be effected in three years, meaning 25 percent per year.
Le108.9billion would be allocated to the Ministry of Defence; Le96.3 billion to the Sierra Leone Police; Le58.7 billion to the Sierra Leone Correctional Services; and Le5.9 billion to the National Fire Force, out of the total budget of Le9.21 trillion.
“Salaries of all security personnel, including Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), Sierra Leone Police, Office of National Security (ONS), Central Intelligence and Security Unit (CISU), Correctional Services and Fire Force will also be increased by 25 percent effective April 2021,” the minister said in his speech presented to parliament on Friday, November 13. He noted that because the theme of the budget was ‘economic recovery for job creation and human capital development,’ staff of tertiary institutions would also benefit from the 25 percent pay rise.
In line with the government’s human capital development, Saffa said they are also going to recruit 1,000 teachers, 1,000 health workers and an undisclosed number of military personnel.
To support the government’s flagship programme, Free Quality Education, 22% of the budget would be allocated to the education sector. Saffa said this is to enhance the implementation of the education programme.
From the recurrent budget, Le738.6 billion is allocated as salaries for teachers of primary and secondary schools; and Le249.6 billion for salaries of staff of tertiary education institutions. The sum of Le152 billion is provided for technical and higher education, including Le100 billion as grants to tertiary education institutions; Le11.6 billion as Grants–in-Aid; Le4.8 billion for the Students Loan Scheme and Le5.4 billion for technical and vocational education.
The sum of Le30.3 billion is allocated to basic and secondary education, including Le11.8 billion as Grants-in-Aid for Government Boarding schools and Le4.7 billion for the coordination of the Free Quality Education Programme, Le2.1 billion for schools for the physically challenged; and Le1.4 billion for school inspection.
In addition, the sum of Le11.6 billion is allocated for devolved functions in the education sector. The sum of Le345.2 billion is allocated in the domestic capital budget to the education sector, of which Le257.7 billion will support the Free Quality School Education Programme, covering the procurement of teaching and learning materials, school fees subsidy, school feeding programme, examination fees for NPSE, BECE, WASSCE and diet for boarding schools.
According to Minister Saffa, compared to 2019, with total revenue collected between January and September that year, amounting to Le4.1 trillion or 10.8% of GDP, in 2020, the domestic revenue collected from January to September amounted to Le4.1 trillion (9.9 percent of GDP), exceeding the revised target of Le4.0 trillion by Le59.0 billion. Compared to the pre-COVID target of Le4.7 trillion, domestic revenue recorded a shortfall of Le 698.7 billion, he added.
The Minister noted that in the midst of COVID-19 and all its accompanying challenges, 112 of the 159 commitments in the original 2020 Budget have either been completed or are on track to be completed by the planned dates. Also, 25 of the 28 commitments in the Supplementary Budget have either been completed or are on track for delivery, he said. This, Saffa added, suggests a delivery rate of 89 percent of the 2020 Supplementary Budget.
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