Sierra Leone Telegraph: 7 March 2019:
Over three thousand public sector workers have refused to register with the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) which is responsible for verifying and registering all legitimately employed staff that are on the government’s payroll.
Yesterday the NCRA issued a strong warning calling on those that have failed to turn up for registration to do so with immediate effect, or face being struck off the government payroll.
The government of Sierra Leone is the largest single employer in the country and it is estimated that over 5,000 people may be receiving salary as ghost workers in the public sector.
But president Julius Maada Bio says he is trying to transform the public sector as an institution that is not only fit for purpose but shedding waste and rooting out corruption.
According to the NCRA the bulk of people failing to register are teachers. Civil servants and police, making up over 50% of potential ghost workers, costing the state Billions of Leones.
These people who are ghost workers, should be fined. They should return all the money they have collected in the past. But if the money was embezzled by someone else, then they should pay it all back.
The ghost workers have rushed back to their respective graves. Therefore, The National Civil Registration Authority [NCRA] should strike them off the government pay roll immediately. But this should only be the beginning of the painstaking effort to reach the bottom of the entire issue.
Who were the mediums responsible for bringing the ghosts into the natural world? How much money did they collect? What did they do with such money – did they take it to the supernatural world?
These are the questions which NCRA and ACC have to use as the platform to rope in all those in position of authority who used their influence to covertly deny the nation much needed funds which would have been profitably applied elsewhere.
NCRA and ACC must ultimately ensure that the perpetrators of the crime rebury the ghosts and tell them to never again appear, because the penalty is too much to bear and that the country is changing at a pace which is bewildering – thanks to Julius Maada Bio, who is making grown up men to tremble in their trousers.
Bravo ACC. Sierra Leoneans must enjoy the goodness of their country.
Wonderful news.
Disgusting! Sheer madness. How much have been lost in this thievery? Hope ACC finds out the culprits that got the monies. If progressed under our current governance, then “die man vouchers” should be a thing of the past.