By Theresa Kef Sesay
During a Ministerial clinic on deliverables organized by the Chief Minister at State House on the 17th August, 2021 the Honourable Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, called on Ministers to implement key manifesto promises of President Julius Maada Bio.
Dr. Jalloh stated that the New Direction Government is in the process of stock taking of major manifesto commitments stating that what that means is evaluating the translation of the commitments into realities on the ground.
He encouraged the Ministers to embark on tangible programmes that can be seen on the ground by the public, adding how such concrete developments should centered on the manifesto promises of President Bio.
The Honourable Vice President categorized the methodological framework of delivery as soft and hard. Dr. Jalloh explained soft delivery as policy formulation, legislative reforms and meeting international benchmarks; citing the abolition of the death penalty as manifesto commitment of the present Government.
He stated that hard delivery is about tangible delivery that can be seen by the public. He cited increased health budget from 6% to 11% from 2018 to present that resulted to the recruitment of more nurses that are seen in hospitals across the country, and the employment of more teachers to boost the Government Free Quality Education Programme as some examples.
Vice President Jalloh described the four clinical deliverables on infrastructure, governance, economy and human capital development as critical areas for delivery by the New Direction Government.
“The clinic will help to identify deliverables within the clusters,” the Vice President emphasized and maintained that the manifesto commitment of President Bio is an elaboration of the Medium Term National Development Plan that puts the manifesto into a national document.
Dr. Jalloh referred to the delivery clinic as a method through which consistency of delivery of essential programmes in the Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) are ensured.
Vice President Jalloh pointed out that the objective of the clinic is to put Ministers and senior Government officials within Ministries in a delivery mindset. He elaborated that the clinic is meant to enable Ministers realized that there are tools used by the Government and President Bio to deliver on specific mandates of the Ministers.
Vice President Jalloh reechoed the relevance of the clinic for the understanding of delivery mechanism, particularly for Government to track deliverables derived from the mandate the people of Sierra Leone gave to President Bio.
He named ‘agency factor’ as a critical factor or challenge in the delivery process noting how agency factor will prevent tangible delivery if not properly managed, despite commitments, well progressive MTNDP, and money. He stated that the people responsible to ensure the policy chain function well should be supervised.
