By Ragan Conteh
The 2020 Budget hearing process is very critical to the New Direction Government’s aspirations of creating jobs and economic boom for Sierra Leoneans.
Vice President, Juldeh Jalloh, while officially launching the 2020 Budget Hearings in Freetown had called for fruitful and responsible deliberations leading to the development of a budget process that will rekindle the hopes of many Sierra Leoneans for jobs.
He urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies to develop their budget with a view to fulfill government’s key priority of creating jobs for the bulk of the country’s population, the youth.
The Ministry of Finance was also careful to have sent a blue print in the form of a budget call circular to guide MDAs as to how they should make their presentations during the hearings, but based on the observations by most national state actors, CBOs and journalists currently participating in the hearings, there is a wide shift from what should have actually obtained at the hearings with regards ensuring that MDAs present their budgets in line with the aspirations of government.
Just like what is observed in the Well of Parliament when MDAs fail most times to go by the dictates of the Finance Committee as it relates to expending government monies, most MDAs have also faced the budget hearings committee haphazardly, lacking most of what is expected to form the budget of their respective MDAs based on the budget call circular sent to them.
Instead of standing these organizations down, the technical teams prefer to selectively hand pick some to go through the process for reasons best known to them, even though they have not done their homework well before the committee.
Many NSAs who spoke to this medium have criticized the process so far stating that many MDAs who have so far presented their budgets to the Technical Teams have enjoyed protection from the Ministry of Finance officials for the better part of the process while the unlucky ones have been stood down.
They have been accused of defeating the true and genuine purpose of the 2020 budget process.
Many say the primary objective of the budget is to provide a realistic estimate of income and expenses for a period and the financial position at the close of the period.
It is also expected to provide a coordinated plan of action designed to achieve the estimates reflected in the budget.
Most if not all of the MDAs’ budgets are not properly coordinated and prepared according to people observing the process.
Many MDAs that have been rubber stamped through the process have not factored procurement plans in their budgets for the 2020 Fiscal Year, but yet still they have been allowed to pass through.
Observers further stated that budgeting allows MDAs to create a spending plan for tax payers’ money and to also ensure that MDAs will always have enough money for the things they need and the things that are important to the aspirations of government.
The budget spending plans, they said, will also keep MDAs out of debt or help them work their way out of debts, but what is most faulty is that MDAs have failed to outline their total arrears whether in the form of Withholding tax, NASSIT contributions, Electricity or Water bills.
All of these anomalies have been given a blind eye by the Technical Teams at the hearings.
“If I was in that budget hearing as one of the Technical Team officials, most of the presentations by MDAs would have been stood-down as a result of the flaws on their budgets,” one finance officer stated.
They say if such rubber stamping approval of budgets continues there will be a likelihood of poor performance, corruption and that it will undermine priority areas of government, as well as undermine transparency and accountability.