By Sulaiman Jalloh
Budget Advocacy Network (BAN), a civil society organization in Sierra Leone that promotes budget participation, openness, and accountability in the country, in collaboration with the Public Debt Management division of the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, in Freetown, climaxed a three-day training for journalists and civil society activists on public debt management and accountability.
The three-day workshop was sponsored by the African Development Bbank under the grant financed project, Enhancing Efficiency in Public Debt Management Institutional Support Project (EEPDMISP).
Abu Bakarr Kamara is the Budget Advocacy Network coordinator who started by thanking the Ministry of Finance, and development partners for sponsoring the workshop, noting Civil Society activists and the media plays a crucial role in demanding for transparency, raising public awareness, transforming data into compelling stories that mobilize public opinion and hold decision-makers accountable and influencing policy reforms based on solid evidence.
Kamara, while thanking the participants, said the session was well-exhausted and encouraged them to use the knowledge learnt and educate the Public.
He also explained some challenges faced in tacking public debt among which he said is data complexity, data gabs, political resistance, noting “While tracking public debt is essential, it comes with challenges such as complex data, limited access, and sometimes even deliberate confusion by authorities”.
Abu Bakarr Kamara further highlighted some steps in tracking public debt. One he said is to identify source information, utilizing open data platforms, data collection and aggregation among others.
Speaking on behalf the civil society participants, Mohamed A. Fofana, regional programme manager, ActionAid Sierra Leone, thanked BAN for organizing the workshop and to teach the civil society organizations and the media on public debt Management. He added that the portion of participants does not represent 2% percent of CSOs and the media while urging for the message to be disseminated. “We have got to know lots of terminologies and what grant is meant for and what debt meant for” he underscored.
He furthered that the technicality of the information and its interpretation is key to advancing public discussion, saying much was achieved during the three-day workshop. “If we don’t share information, information will share itself” he alluded emphasizing the importance of sharing the best information with the public
According to civil society activists, there are lots of policies that would guide the way to share the correct information, noting citizens should help the government and the Ministry of Finance to aid the country financed its development agenda. He empathized that the big five game changers require collaboration from every citizen. “The knowledge gained here would help us to make an informed decision” he concluded.
Lawrence Williams is the managing editor and publisher of the Frintong Post newspaper. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity given to newsmen to learn about public debt management, especially those that have been reporting on public financing in the country while calling on colleague journalists to put the data into context for the benefit of the public. “This is a unique training in the sense that it specifically focuses on Public management issues,” he remarked. Williams recalled what they learnt a lot during the training, adding the knowledge would not remain in the room but would help them in their reporting for the benefit of the public.
Also speaking was Santigie Charles Conteh, deputy director of public debt management division at the Ministry of Finance. In his closing remarks, Conteh noted that the three-day workshop has equipped participants with the right knowledge on public debt management, noting the more openness the more information divulged regarding how debt is managed in Sierra Leone.