By Sulaiman Jalloh
To help citizens better understand how the government plans to spend public money in 2025, the National council for civic education and democracy (NaCCED), in partnership with the ministry of Finance, officially launched the fiscal year 2025 citizens Budget on Monday, May 12, 2025. The launch took place at the ministry’s main conference room in Freetown.
The event brought together journalists, civil society groups, and district Budget oversight committee members, it aimed to present and explain the citizens Budget under the theme, Accelerating Development and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone Through Civic Education and Engagement.
NaCCED chairman, Joseph M. Bindi, explained that the citizens Budget is a simplified version of the national budget. It helps ordinary people understand how the government collects money revenue and how it plans to spend it expenditure each year, he said the document is designed to improve public knowledge and support better governance.
Bindi noted that since President Julius Maada Bio took office in 2018, NaCCED and the Ministry of Finance have worked together every year to produce the Citizens Budget. This is part of a broader project called Economic and Financial Management Education, aimed at making the national budget easier for everyone to understand.
For 2025, we have produced enough copies of the Citizens Budget so that more people across the country can learn what is in it, Bindi said. He also announced that NaCCED will soon begin a nationwide tour to discuss the 2025 budget with citizens in every region, this supports the government’s goal of leaving no one behind, he added.
In his keynote speech, the Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, thanked NaCCED and its partners for their efforts. He highlighted the challenges Sierra Leone has faced in recent years but said the government has worked hard to improve the economy.
You will all agree with me that since 2023, despite difficult circumstances, our policies have started to show results, minister Bangura said, he mentioned that the country’s budget deficit is shrinking, and inflation has dropped to around 10%. the minister said the 2025 budget focuses on building on past progress by investing in areas like education and agriculture. These investments are key to improving the lives of all Sierra Leoneans.
This event shows the government’s ongoing commitment to civic education and public involvement in how the country is run. It also highlights the importance of transparency and accountability in national budgeting.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Friday, May 14th, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
