By Brima Sannoh
At the Bintumani International Conference Centre in Freetown, His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio on 24 January 2020 opened the third Cabinet Retreat where he enjoined Ministers and other public servants to focus on service delivery in the interest of the people of Sierra Leone.
With the theme: “Consolidating the Foundation for Service Delivery’’, the strategic objectives of the two-day retreat included the reviewing of the New Direction progress on the implementation of the eight priority areas from April 2018 – January 2020, to prioritising target setting for the delivery of results and outcomes.
Other objectives sought to ensure greater clarity in roles and responsibilities for Ministers, Deputy Ministers as well as administrative and professional heads of Ministries, to deepen understanding of the Medium Term National Development Plan and its linkages to Service Delivery, Performance Management and Monitoring and Evaluation.
In his opening statement, Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis, said that the two-day interactive session promised to build a high performing team spirit, for which he encouraged colleague ministers to make good use of the retreat. He also commended the President for his inspiring leadership to build a high performing and dedicated team to deliver results.
Delivering his keynote address, President Bio said that they were meeting to review twenty-one months of governance and to assess the impacts of what had been done and what needed to be done further to make sure that Sierra Leone was progressing. He said that despite being blessed with educated and talented people, the country had suffered for far too long because of a lack of leadership.
He also said that he had decided to engage with them because he wanted to clearly outline the political and governance expectations in the New Year, adding that 2020 was a year of service delivery. He encouraged ministers and other public servants to work together as a team and assured that he would continue to inspire everyone to work collectively and deliver for the good of the country.
“We are here to develop a smart plan that is outcome and result oriented. We have the responsibility to deliver this nation, so we have to work together to change the narrative of our country. We have a competent team that inspires both local and international confidence. So, I count on your total support and commitment to deliver to our people,” he said.
