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GOVERNMENT
STATEMENT The unfortunate events in certain parts of the city of Freetown in the past few days, reminiscent of the war period is of great concern to Government. It was obvious that the general public was put in a state of fear and normal business activities were disrupted. On Friday 25th February, the Academic Staff Association (ASA) of the University of Sierra Leone, called a strike action for Monday 28th February, thereby demanding one hundred and fifty percent increase in their salary. This demand if accepted would have amounted to the granting of an increase of salaries from Le1 million to Le2.5 million per month for lecturers, and up to Le5 million per month for some professors. On the effective date of the strike, students were unable to take their first semester examinations. The time of the strike action of the Academic Staff Association (ASA) was deliberately made to coincide with these examinations. Following from the strike action, some students decided to stage a protest march ostensibly in solidarity with the Academic Staff Association. This was against the advice and good judgment of the executives of the National Union of Students (NUSS) and Fourah Bay College (FBC), and in violation of the provisions of the Public Order Act. The Police were faced with a fait accompli and therefore decided to perform their constitutional duty of protecting the public, the students themselves and public and private properties. The police provided marshals and allowed the students to march, on condition that the demonstration remained peaceful. To ensure law and order was maintained, a police Landover was provided for the president of NUSS to monitor the progress of the procession and to report back to the Inspector-General of Police on the events as they occurred. In spite of this accommodation by the police, the situation deteriorated so fast as demonstrators started damaging private and public properties and attempted to forcibly enter Youyi building, which houses many government ministries, departments and agencies and at the peak of office hours. Another alarming occurrence was that, in the course of the protest march, the organizers of the demonstration dispatched emissaries to schools in order to enlist the support of school children and others in a bid to join them. The students abducted two unarmed police personnel performing routine duties at Fourah Bay College campus and held them hostage. Their communication sets were seized. The students damaged a number of private and public vehicles including that of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police. They started throwing missiles and petrol bombs which they had prepared. They put up road blocks and harassed peaceful citizens who were going about their normal business. In spite of all this, the police exercised restraint and acted appropriately to protect life and property. No one died or was shot contrary to the erroneous reports and allegations made against the Police. Government has taken note of the press release by the University and Academic Staff suspending the strike action after discussions with the Vice President and the Minister of Education. Government also notes the withdrawal of the students' demonstration and the accompanying apology made to the nation. However, Government would like to comment on certain aspects of the event and what might have prompted them. Government is aware of the prevailing perception based on mischievous pronouncements that donor funds are disbursed directly to the Government of Sierra Leone, and are therefore used indiscriminately and for the personal benefit of Ministers and Government officials. This is wrong. In the first, place donor supported projects are implemented by executing agencies such as NGOs, civil society organizations and contractors approved by the donors. Government does not get involved in the disbursement of donor funds. These funds cannot be used for salaries and wages of public workers or for purposes outside the projects for which they were intended. Government acknowledges the need to review salaries of public workers right across the board. But this can only be met from revenue generated internally. At the moment, Government source of revenue is limited to customs duty the volume of which is related to the ability of the population to import and consume foreign goods and pay duty on them. Also, the amount of income tax which is another source of revenue generated internally depends upon the level of employment, salary scale, and the willingness of non-salaried workers and businesses to pay tax. Further, because of the war at the moment, the country does not yet derive any significant revenue from its agricultural and mineral products. Therefore, the running of the economy of the country depends largely on the prudent management by Government of the available meagre resources. The position would have been much better if there was a developed work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit within the country. But unfortunately, these are lacking in our people. Government has for some time been appealing to our people to embrace these principles, as it is the only way to create wealth and develop our country. It has been pointed out that the timing of the strike action by the Academic Staff Association to coincide with the first semester examinations was unfortunate, and it may appear to have been a deliberate act to procure a breach of the peace, as it was obvious that depriving the students from taking their examinations on the scheduled date would have provoked them to take some course of action, as it in fact turned out to be. Government is quite aware of the right of the Academic Staff Association members to embark on a strike action after exhausting all due process. If this had been done, they would not have produced the result, intended or otherwise, which the present strike action produced. As it turned out, but for the prompt and professional action taken by the Sierra Leone Police Force, the situation would have been much worse. Without prejudice to the outcome of any future negotiations relating to the increase of salaries and improved conditions of service of the academic staff of the university, Government wishes to state its position in relation to the levels of wages and remuneration of public sector workers of Sierra Leone. Government acknowledges that all things being equal, salaries and remuneration should be higher than they are at the moment. It is for this reason that Government has embarked upon a study of all matters relating to the remuneration of public sector workers. The position as it now stands in relation to the demands made by the Academic Staff Association members vis-à-vis the monthly salaries of some public sector workers is as follows: His Excellency the President - Le2.1 million; the Honourable Vice President - Le1.2 million; Ministers - Le1 million; Members of Parliament - Le1.2 million. The present
government has from its inception adopted a deliberate policy that
education is a right and not a privilege for all Sierra Leoneans.
This is in contrast to what prevailed previously. This policy of government
is borne out of the conviction that the strength of a nation is contingent
on the quality of human resource produced especially by its tertiary
institutions. That is why access to tertiary education continues to
improve at unprecedented levels, a development greatly enhanced by
the increase of grants-in-aid to new students from an annual average
of 900 in 1996 to over 2,000 in 2005. This is done in spite of the
growing increase in college fees and other charges. These figures
are besides the huge number of continuing tertiary students who are
benefiting from the grants-in-aid. The amount paid as grants-in-aid
is in addition to the sum of Le2.8 billion paid every three months
by the government as subvention for the running of the university. The public should be informed that the university, as an autonomous institution, manages the subvention in its choice of academic programmes, number of lecturers, senior supporting and junior staff employed. Each category of staff negotiates independently with the university administration its terms and conditions of service. The Ministry of Education gets involved only where there is an impasse to ensure unhindered operation of the institution. Government could therefore not be seen to micro-manage the university in its daily operation. In most other countries students wishing to acquire tertiary education are directly supported by their parents or benefactors or through student loan schemes. But in Sierra Leone, the Government continues to undertake this necessary social responsibility by awarding grants-in-aid in increasing numbers for tertiary education as a way of preparing and equipping our youth for the future while at the same time providing enlightened and educated manpower for this country. In the process students who cannot afford the high cost of tertiary education are not deprived of the benefits of University education merely because of the circumstances of their parents. Government would therefore expect the students who are the beneficiaries of this policy to show appreciation to the people of this country who are making sacrifices in order to provide university education for them. It follows therefore that there is no justification for students to engage themselves in the type of activities they embarked upon recently, using the pretext of delayed payment of allowances. The nation has a right also to demand that those who are charged with the responsibility of imparting knowledge and moral values to our students should display a conduct which is beyond reproach and which would result in bringing forth the virtues of patriotism and civility in our youth. It is only in this way that the future of this country would be assured. Anything falling short of this would defeat the whole purpose of university education and will sooner or later be inimical to this nation. The University of Sierra Leone has developed a good reputation throughout the years, and has been the pride of the sub-region. The Academic Staff and students, and indeed the entire university administration have a responsibility to maintain this tradition. Government would not sit by to watch this tradition violated with impunity, by any group of persons, thereby resulting in the breakdown of law and order. Government should not be put in the difficult position of having to choose between leaving the University open or closing it because of the behaviour of students or staff and the security implication attached to such behaviour. Government
has taken the opportunity of the occurrence of the events of the past
few days to evaluate the capacity of the Sierra Leone Police to handle
a serious security situation. We have come to the conclusion that
the Sierra Leone Police is now prepared in terms of professionalism,
equipment and personnel to address civil disturbances in the country.
This is reinforced by the fact that a security situation that could
have been disastrous, if allowed to unfold, was handled by the Police,
without the assistance of the Military or UNAMSIL. -END OF STATEMENT- |
