Director’s Message
I want to start by expressing my profound gratitude to His Excellency Dr. (Rtd.) Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, for the confidence reposed in me to serve as the Director of the Public Sector Reform Unit, Office of the President. I am equally grateful to the Leadership of the Public and Civil Service, who, in my former acting capacity, supported me in championing critical reforms that have laid the foundation and structure for a more robust, efficient and professional Public Sector Reform Unit, capable enough to provide technical leadership in the reform of the Public Service in Sierra Leone.
The responsibility to provide strategic technical leadership in the reform of the Public Service is a challenging task, which I also consider a privilege. The compulsion for reforms in the Public Service must be balanced. Despite the strides made by PSRU to coordinate strategic reform programmes, which have led to the establishment of critical Institutions like the National Revenue Authority, National Social Security and Insurance Trust and the recently established Wages and Compensation Commission, the consensus is that the public sector reforms must be continuous, consistent and well-coordinated. Therefore, the Public Sector Reform Unit was established on the Shared Will. Public Sector reform catalyses development, backed by the political will to invigorate such a drive.
With the focus on a lean and high-performing, collaborative public service that works for all, the Public Sector Reform Unit is poised to vigorously implement its mandate and core functions, which include Strategic and Structural Alignments of MDAs, Development of sector policies and review of obsolete policies, coordinate public sector reform and provide policy advisory on critical reform programmes, with a renewed impetus, realising that the gains of reforms cannot be sustained without a robust and professional service that is fit for purpose.
As an Institution, we desire to build a better Sierra Leone, a Sierra Leone that we all must be proud of and a Sierra Leone with a professional, efficient and effective Public Service: A Public Service that will be desirable to others and the Pride of Sierra Leone. What is pleasing is that the widely blamed challenge of lack of political will that has undermined previous reforms is no longer a constraint, and indeed, there is now an abundance of political will. This evidence is well articulated in the Medium-Term National Development Plan of 2024 – 2030, which underscores the “Revamping of the Public Service Architecture”.
While the Public Sector Reform Unit and other reform-led Institutions are at critical steps to professionalise the Public Service, the next stage is crucial to make a difference and live a different Sierra Leone. Therefore, I want to implore our local and international partners to rise and take this as a common challenge. We should all rally together to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s commitment to the “Revamping of the Public Service Architecture”.
There is only one way to go: FORWARD and TO DELIVER.
