The Wages and Compensation Commission (WCC) today hosted a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at their new 19F Bath Street, Brookfields office for better understanding of issues around harmonization of the pay skills and salaries and how WCC intends to implement it.
Welcoming the IMF team, Chairman of WCC, Hon. Alpha Osman Timbo expressed his appreciation to the IMF for their efforts in collaborating with the government of Sierra Leone in key interventions. He stated that as a new institution created by an Act of Parliament, WCC performs a very important role to look at the intensive structure of the public service where disparities have existed over they years.
Mr. Timbo said : “WCC considered the role of the IMF very critical and we look at them as possible permanent partners in ensuring that they help the commission to deliver on its mandate.”
He also commended the role played by the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General, noting that despite the earlier challenges the Commission encountered, their relentless effort to ensure that WCC succeeds cannot be overemphasized.
In her brief statement, the Deputy Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Ilara Mahdi stated that the ministry have developed a strategy to see how they can attain a sustainable wage bill in the Medium Term. She said that within the strategy developed, there are a number of strategies, but that one of the challenges they identified is the disparity in the various pay structure.
“the ministry has been looking at WCC since they have the legal mandate to address some of these issues,” she said.
In his statement, the head of delegation and Senior Economist at the Fiscal Affairs Department of IMF, Paolo Dudine said they are in Sierra Leone to provide support directly to the Ministry of Finance in assessing the potential impact on the Wage Bill from different actions that the ministry has identified in the strategy for it management. He mentioned the two competing forces in the budget that deal with financing constraints and at the same time the huge developmental needs to provide adequate level of services.
“Basically these two competing forces, create a tension towards improving efficiency, but also making sure that there are no leakages,’ he said.
He noted that the IMF is basically looking at the financing constraints and not too much of looking on efficiency and the structures of the public service which is outside of their mandate, but said they will focus on how much is possible to save from actions that are yet to have very granular details.
Paolo referenced countries like Ghana, Burundi, Mozambique and Chile as some of the countries that have gone harmonization of the pay scheme , saying drawing from experience from the aforementioned countries, he hoped to illustrate different paths that can be followed and different consequences of those paths to aid the commission in their work.
He explained that some countries immediately they harmonize the wage bill, the pay scheme increases even by 1% of the GDP. He added that in other countries, the harmonization is accompanied by a set of other reforms that improve efficiency, management of public finances which help in paying the overall impact.
“So in that sense we hope to illustrate different ways in which other countries have done it and to provide such of range of numbers in terms of potential savings or potential cost and the objective of that is basically to dissect the information WCC may have to guide their decision.”
The Chief Executive Officer of WCC, Mr. David W.S Banya in his presentation explained to the IMF team that the public sector reform process has focused primarily on improving efficiency and effectiveness of state institutions with specific reference to service delivery to the public.
He noted that the reform objective is to transform the public sector into an efficient, accountable and inclusive entity to support sustainable development, saying with the reform, government intend to enhance public trust, foster economic growth and improve service delivery to the citizens with the ultimate aim of improving the quality of life of the people and that WCC seats squarely at the centre of the ongoing public sector reform.
Mr. Banya further explained the Commission’s mandate which is responsible to determine the Wages and Compensation of Public Sector employees harmonize the public sector pay system to reflect equity and merit.
He highlighted the organisation’s key successes and challenges within the period of operation and urged the IMF to play their part in whatever way they can.
The Deputy CEO of WCC, Mr. Prince A.S Bio, president of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress who also doubles as one of the Commissioners of WCC, Mr. Max Conteh and Aiah David Sandi from the ministry of finance attended the meeting.
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