It is to the credit of our three post-civil war Presidents, Late Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Ernest Bai Koroma and now Julius Maada Bio, that they have shown great recognition and respect of the role of women in our society by appointing them to key influential positions in cabinet, public service and the diplomatic world.
So cognizant have been these three progressive minded post war heads of state of the importance of women who form more than half of the population, that they went further to institute progressive gender based equal rights legislations targeting their freedom from male domination, violence and exploitation.
So it is that women like Zainab Bangura, Dr Kadi Sesay, Dr Bernadette Lahai, Emma Kowa Jalloh, Fatmata Clara Carlton Hanciles, Diana Konomanyi, Dr Hannah, Max-Kyne, Haja Isata Kamara, Jeneba Kpaka Kamara, Lara Taylor Pearce, Manty Tarawallie, Mamadi Gobeh-Kamara, Dr Patricia Laverley, Miatta Samba, Patricia Ndanema, Elizabeth Turay, Sunkarie Kabba Kamara, Mrs. Tuma Gento Kamara, to name but few, have been empowered by successive presidents to play their role in national development, which to a very large extent they have done honorably, patriotically and admirably – making many to comment that women in public service tend to perform better than their male counterparts.
However, our society, like most traditional societies still being male dominated; women in public life have faced many challenges in maintaining their careers due to bullying and suppression at the hands of their male bosses.
This brings us to the recent discord between the Minister of Finance, Honorable Dennis K. Vandi and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Revenue Authority, Mrs. Tuma Gento-Kamara.
Before delving into the controversy, let it be understood that the role generally of a board chairman focuses on strategic matters that includes principally overseeing the entity’s business and setting high governance standards. He/she plays a pivotal role in fostering the effectiveness of the board and individual directors, both inside and outside the boardroom.
Furthermore, let it be understood that the board chairman holds the most power and authority on the board of directors and provides leadership to the entity’s officers and executives. The board chairman thus ensures that the entity’s duties to shareholders (in the case of the NRA, the Government of Sierra Leone), are being fulfilled by acting as link between the board and upper management.
Summarized, the board chairman heads the board of directors, provides leadership to the entity’s executives and other employees; leads the charge on big picture decisions, and sets the tone for the corporate culture of the company.
Furthermore, it is important to know that a board chairman may or may not be involved in the daily operation of the entity, sometimes serving in a more remote advisory role but providing ultimate oversight of the actions taken by executives.
The chair thus has the power and authority to set goals and objectives, with the input of the rest of the board that the executives that are directly involved in planning and putting the entity’s strategies into action are expected to achieve.
This background narrative of the power and authority of board especially those dealing in money businesses is against the decision by the Minister of Finance to revoke the summoning of a meeting with certain business by the NRA board chairman on the basis that it is not good for business and the economy.
What is understood is that, in the light of some big businesses deliberately failing to install the new electronic cash register machines in order to hide what their incomes and tax obligations to the government of Sierra Leone and its people are, Dr Gento-Kamara’s directive to probe certain well established business entities in the country vis-à-vis their tax compliance portfolio is not only the right thing to do, but falls well within her power and authority as chairman of the board of NRA.
However, Minister Vandi had this to say: “We have no doubt that such action by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the NRA will result in an unhealthy business environment, impacting on the financial and economic governance of the State.” “In view of the foregoing, I hereby direct that all the invitations sent for the said investigation to the concerned businesses be rescinded with immediate effect,” wrote Minister Vandi.
It is clearly spelt out in Section 16 of the NRA Act that in the exercise of its functions, the independence of Authority (NRA) shall not be subject to the direction or control of any persona of authority or authority.
As the argument continues to rage in public spaces about the propriety of the Minister of Finance’s revoking of the NRA board chairman’s directive, many have pointed that as one of the lead actors in President Bio’s avowed fight against corruption, the Minister of Finance must be advised that one of the flagship programmes of the current SLPP-led administration is fighting corruption, using different approaches that must be fully embraced by all relevant stakeholders in the fight – in the light that the Minister himself has recently been critically of MDAs that do not operate uprightly in the management of their finances, based on the findings of the 2020 Audit Report.
NRA in this light has been doing extremely well since this government came to power in 2018 and appointed a new Board and Commissioners General and his Deputy; attested to by the huge quantum leap in annual revenue generation that the NRA has been reporting since then – even exceeding revenue targets in the past two COVID-19 years.
This clearly attests to the quality of leadership and direction provided the Authority by the Board and Management that should be applauded, not dampened by any means.
The President in his wisdom has deemed it fit to reappoint Mrs. Toma Gento-Kamara as the NRA Board chairman based on her long years of vast experience as a Legal Practitioner with Jabbi Associates. He also reappointed all the other members of the board which shows the level of confidence the President reposes in them.
Dr Tuma Kamara is a proud recipient of the 11th edition of the African achievers WARDS for her unprecedented “Excellence in public service”.
Under her distinguished leadership, NRA continues to register record breaking revenue generation which engineers efficient service delivery for the citizens. Her innovative strides have been at the forefront of the authority’s tremendous progress in digitalized revenue generation.
Her education status speaks for itself. She is graduate of Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom with a Master of Laws (LLM) Corporate and Business Law and a Bachelor’s degree from De Montfort University. She is a member of Sierra Leone Law School Bar (Barrister & Solicitor).
Dr Tuma Kamara holds an honorary Doctor of Law degree and a Master class certificate in Business Management and Leadership from the Commonwealth University and London Graduate School. She is pursuing Masters in Public Administration at the University of York.
Held in high esteem in the legal profession, she was among experienced legal experts appointed in October 2021 as residual judges of the Sierra Leone Special Court to serve as Notary Officers.
It should be noted that these are legal practitioners of very high standing appointed to detect not only fraud, but to serve the public in non-contentious mattes including witnessing signing of documents and verifying signatories and instruments such as Probate of Wills and Conveyances among others.
They are also authorized to authenticate documents such as Estate Deeds, Powers of Attorney, Affidavits, Licenses, Contracts and Loan documents.
In appointing them the Chief Justice noted that their job requires “high level of independence, integrity, impartiality and fairness”.
Her exemplary leadership has attracted national, continental and global attention and acclaim.
Recently reelected for a second term, Dr Tuma Kamara is the current Vice President of the world’s largest tax administration mechanism, the Belt and Road Tax Administration Corporation Mechanism BRITACOM with headquarters in Beijing-China.
Under her leadership, NRA has been recognized as the Best Performing Revenue Institution in Africa by the Africa Business Report.
At the National Achievement Awards in 2019, NRA won best Public Sector Institution of the year. She has personally gained several recognitions, including the 50 most influential Sierra Leonean women in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Dr Tuma has a busy life outside of her professional career. She is an avid entrepreneur, a strong Advocate for human and economic rights and a very passionate community development champion.
She is the current chairperson of the Kamboi Eagles Football Club and is married to Ahmed Gento-Kamara with several children.
In conclusion, hardworking, selfless women like Dr Tuma Gento-Kamara that have opted for careers in the public domain in a highly male dominated society need all the support and encouragement they need to succeed instead of being vilified, bullied, suppressed and targeted for sacking. These will serve as role models and inspiration to other women of excellence to come forward for public service.