Sierra Leone president issues stern cost-cutting and civil service regulations

President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, has hit the ground running with the issuance of a presidential order aimed at cutting cost of government spending and injecting a sense of responsibility in the public sector.

An April 9, 2018 press release from the Office of the President issued four orders touching on civil service punctuality, the institution of a national day of cleaning, re-introduction of commercial activities on Sundays and a ban on hosting government programs at hotels.

All the orders according to the release were with immediate effect: Below is the full statement as issued and duly sent to us by our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Eric Kawa.

The Office of the President wishes to inform the general public that effective immediately

1. All Public Sector Workers and Government Ministers are required to be in Office at 8:30am till 4:45pm. The president and vice president will conduct routine and unannounced checks at Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure implementation. Failure to report for work on time will lead to Disciplinary Action and Potential Summary Dismissal.

2. A National Cleaning Day is declared for the 1st Saturday of each month from 7:00am _ 12:00 noon. The first national cleaning day scheduled by the Ministry of Health Affairs is Saturday, 5th May 2018.

3. Re-introduce Sunday Trading and Commercial Activities effective Sunday, 15th April 2018. The public is notified that all businesses, trading and commercial enterprises and activities are now permitted to operate on Sundays ONLY between the periods of 12:00 noon to 5:00pm.

4. All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other Public Sector Institutions are now required to HOST all Government-related workshops, seminars and conferences at MDAs / Public Sector Institution premises and NOT at hotels. The objective is to save cost and prevent wastage of scarce government resources.