By Bampia James Bundu
The Minister of Youth Affairs has accused the head of the Youth Commission of collecting double salaries.
Alimamy Kamara told Politico that Anthony Koroma, Chairman of the National Youth Commission (NYC) was collecting salaries both as the Commissioner of Youth and Director of Youths in the Ministry of Youth Affairs, where he worked before he was made head of the youth commission.
Kamara said he had raised the issue up with “other authorities” on several occasions for the commissioner to resign his post as director of youths, but that nothing was being done to appoint a new director.
“It is a corrupt practice for the commissioner to run his commission with enough personnel and collect two salaries from the consolidated fund at the same time,” the youth minister stated, urging Anthony Koroma to “resign his position at the ministry and allow another person to take up the post.”
He also claimed they had other people who stopped working at the ministry, but were coming from the youth commission to collect salaries at the ministry.
When contacted, the youth commissioner said he had been working as a civil servant in the Ministry of Youth and since his appointment in July, 2011 as Youth Commissioner, he had stopped receiving salary from the Ministry of Youth.
He stated that the position of Director of Youths had been declared vacant and it was the responsibility of the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) to advertise the position and appoint a new director. “None of my staff members at the commission receives salary from the youth ministry,” he said, adding that all that the minister was doing was aimed at “tarnishing my character.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Staff Welfare and Employment Relation at HRMO, Umaru Conteh, explained that a civil servant who was appointed to serve in another capacity had the option to “either take leave of absence which could last for about two years, or go on secondment which could last for four years locally and five years internationally.”
In both instances, he said however, the individual did not need to resign their previous post, but had the option to resign after their secondment.
“When you are on either of the above [secondment] your salary from the civil service pay role would be deleted, until you finish your special assignment, except in a situation where you would not be paid from the consolidated fund at your new assignment,” Conteh said.
The Director General of HRMO, Aroun Rashid Bayoh, said they didn’t have the right to declare positions vacant, but the Ministry of youth Affairs and that the ministry had sent its 2015 man power planning document to them declaring the position of director of youths vacant.
The Director of Payroll Administration Mohamed Jalloh confirmed that the name “Anthony Koroma” had been deleted from the Civil Service payroll and that the commissioner had stopped receiving salary from the Ministry of Youth.
He revealed that the Public Service Commission was planning on advertising the position of director of youth.
© Politico 27/01/15
