The Public Sector Reform Unit, Office of the President in collaboration with the Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD) of the Commonwealth Secretariat organised a Forum of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries at the Miatta Conference Centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 13th – 15th September 2010.
The theme for the three-day meeting was “strengthening the political- administrative relations in the Government of Sierra Leone.” The Forum participants included Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department.
Forum Objectives:
The overall purpose of the workshop is to orient Ministers and Permanent Secretaries to the priorities and operations of Government, so that they can understand the critical importance of their leadership role and effective political-administrative interface for the achievement of national development outcomes.
THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE AS FOLLOWS:
- To understand and agree on the priority national outcomes that the Government of Sierra Leone is currently focusing on, including the PRSP II/ Agenda for Change, the New Public Sector Reform Programme, and strengthen commitment and team work among the Ministers and Permanent Secretaries towards the achievement of these outcomes.
- To discuss and agree on the roles of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries and how they can effectively work together on the one hand and how they can effectively work with other branches of the state (the Judiciary and Legislature) and other stakeholders, on the other hand.
- To discuss leadership and negotiation skills and values that will be required to transform the country
EXPECTED RESULTS/ OUTCOMES
The expected results and outcomes from the Forum included:
a. Understanding of the priority national outcomes that the Government of Sierra Leone seeks to achieve and accountabilities clearly defined, understood and accepted
b. Roles of Ministers, Head of Public Service and Permanent Secretaries and their relationships clearly defined and understood
c. Key leadership values and principles to guide Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in the conduct of their duties defined, understood and agreed upon.
d. Strategies for effectively engaging other stakeholders in the national development agenda defined
e. As contained in the Communiqué annexed to this report, the Forum met fully the above objectives as well as the participants’ expectations and achieved the stated results and outcomes.