Workers and staff of different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have bemoaned the manner in which the Chief Minister, Moinina David Sengeh, is conducting his bogus visits across government sectors.
‘The Chief Minister wants us to go to work late while the government is reneging on their obligations towards the welfare of workers and staff. Government, year in, year out, continues to deepen the suffering of workers with no iota of respect for the workforce,’ one senior civil servant at Youyi Building said.
The civil servants said Chief Minister Sengeh’s visit was not a familiarisation visit, but one that is geared towards mocking poor workers who have suffered the economic misstatement of the regime.
According to workers who preferred unanimity, the Chief Minister was on record when he threatened workers for coming to work late and without consideration of the facilities provided for them at the different MDAs.
Civil servants have also lampooned the Chief Minister for his attempt to clinch effective civil servants in various ministries in the name of a familiarisation visit, adding that the punctual register the Chief Minister is talking about is a ploy to continue targeting a section of workers and sacking them.
Citizens have asked and lamented: ‘How can you enforce laws while the government itself is not structured or recognised? As we are now, our ministry does not even have a mini bus to come to work and no adequate mechanism to ensure that workers are happy with their work.’
‘Today the minimum wage cannot even buy a quality bag of rice. Some of us are paid Le600,000 minimum wage while the bag of rice is Le800,000. Are we saying the Chief Minister is ignorant of what is happening to us as poor work force? Yes. Before encouraging civil servants, the Chief Minister keeps threatening us.’
Others said because the economy has died down government through the Chief Minister is conniving to sack a section of workers in various MDAs.
One Mr Sandi, a civil servant, informed this press, that ‘Government is doing nothing to increase our salaries, transportation has shot-up. The bosses at Youyi Building are no more. How does the Chief Minister expect workers in their ministries to come to work early?’ he asked.
Sandi went further that, apart from the transportation tsunami, the country’s political situation is relatively tough, adding that the Chief Minister should try to work for peace and cohesion before targeting civil servants and workers that are late for work.
Miss Mariatu working at one of the government ministries informed that, David Sengeh has done nothing while he was at the Ministry of Education as minister.
She said parents are still suffering from heavy school fee costs while the Ministry of Education’s inspectorate was all vague due to the pompousness of the minister at the time.
Because of the policy implemented by the then minister who is today a Chief Minister, the free education bogusly campaigned for by President Bio is nowhere to be seen. Parents are paying heavy costs as school charges, as compared to before Bio took over in 2018.
Mustapha Gbapka, a civil servant pointed out that, the Chief Minister’s move is a way to show off his character, adding that the situation across the land should be focused on because it has the propensity to bring the country to its knees.
‘The majority of those undermining the elections have faced restrictions and David Sengeh may be no exception. For us as a nation to ban our leaders means more burden on the ordinary man on the street. Our taxes will be directed to only pay them as ministers, leaving us on the cage with no development trajectory,’ he lambasted.
Gbapka continued that misplaced priorities could be the cause for the collapse of the country’s economy, adding that the Chief Minister should embark on preaching peace, consolidating the workforce, trying to encourage civil servant and above all directing his expertise to talk to the opposition to settle the country’s brouhaha rather than threatening workers at MDAs.