UNDP Exposes SLPP Government
President Julius Maada Bio and his SLPP government have been blasted by the UNDP Country Representative for the non-delivery of UN projects.
Even the UNDP’s diplomat could not hide his disgust at the institutionalised corruption in high places in this SLPP government. The damning reports emanated from the United Nations Development Programme UNDP Country Representative in Sierra Leone Dr Pa Lamin Beyai, who took office on February 4, 2021, in Sierra Leone. He raised serious alarm over the non-deliverance of UNDP sponsored projects by the corrupt SLPP government. (Photo: UNDP Rep blasting the SLPP government).
Reports say the UNDP Resident Representative Dr Pa Lamin Beyai disclosed that he is surprised that the government is not delivering as expected, a situation that is now affecting the UNDP budget for Sierra Leone. From Freetown, the 98.1 FM Democracy Radio conducted this recent interview with the UNDP Diplomat.
FM 98.1 Studio: According to the UNDP Country Representative, Dr Beyai, he said the implementation of their projects with their partners and departments and agencies they work with have been stalled. He said this during an interview with Radio Democracy for a recent training sponsored by UNDP for implementing partners to understand how to implement UNDP programmes called the National Implementation Manual. He spoke to journalist Musa Kamara of Radio Democracy.
UNDP: The cash transfer. What it means is in order for development to be sustained it has to be built within the national system. And to do that people must be conversant with the rules and regulations on both sides. So UNDP has procedures, the government has procedures putting them together to produce what we have the Manual to be trained on. The purpose is to make whatever intervention we have in this country is sustained and sustainable. So, therefore, we have to train to have a better understanding of how the two systems can work together.
Journalist: Being in the training to see how the two systems between the government and UNDP work together, what has been your observation and the UNDP observations when it comes to programmes implementations especially the one implemented by UNDP?
UNDP: We have very cooperative partners, those who cooperate with us and also as you can see with the turn out many of them came. But as part of our procedures, there has to be continuous training capacity building. Or cannot be a capacity-building agent and you don’t build the capacity of those who work with you. So, as such, we thought it necessary to train our IPs Implementing Partners in the new ways we are doing our business.
Journalist: You must have observed the implementation of your projects. For listeners what is the major gap in the implementation of the projects that you think that the people you are working with to be aware of and conversant with the projects implementation systems of the UNDP? (Photo: President Bio has failed the nation).
UNDP: The main issue from our side is the lack of delivery. In our terms, it means I give you 100,000 Leones to address a development challenge. Three months down the line zero implementation. There is no excuse for that. This is a developing country. UNDP and other agencies are here because of the development interventions. So if you are given resources you must deliver because once you failed to deliver either you are affecting the system that we intended to support or even the people who would be the beneficiaries of these interventions. So lack of delivery is an issue and we have escalated it to the level of the Minister of Planning and Economic Development. This was discussed in my trust in my presence with the Chief Minister. Hopefully, maybe the President would know about it. But what we cannot make an excuse for in a developing country where resources are aided, however small your portfolio is, you should deliver. And even ask for more. So that has been the handicap in our delivery process. And people have different excuses. So I’m, they say ignorance of the law is no excuse. In our terms, we still have to build their capacity so that they get a better understanding of how this delivery work.
Journalist: What about programme implementations from partners?
UNDP: Ok. It is. Let’s put it in financial terms. On average our budget is over 10 million. I won’t give you the exact. But over 10 million. Down the line six months, you’ve delivered only 1.5 million. So, you do the maths and tell us exactly what the difference is. This is how alarming it is. You are given allocation days of your need. At the end of the day if these resources are taken and the next day they give us a budget less than requested because there is obvious evidence that delivery is not taking place as we would have wanted. So it has a lot of implications for the next programme 2022 and programme after that. That’s why we insist and I must repeat here I have said clean delivery. When we say… some economists once sometimes you can even bury money, it means something. But in a development sense no, you cannot bury money. And you cannot spend money where it doesn’t affect development concerns. So, clean delivery in this sense means delivery that would affect either the system you want to strengthen or the personalities you want to move from point A to point B in terms of inequality or poverty.
Journalist: You made mention of one of the challenges that it poses to your programmes that you don’t have the money that you expect to have for the other programmes in the coming years. From the UNDP standpoint, when you come to the locals for which, these programmes are implemented what are the impacts when it comes to lack of delivery on the people that are the beneficiaries?
UNDP: Sierra Leone normally have a higher allocation than Ghana because we have more development needs but at the end of the day, if we are not able to utilised the resources that have been given to us then we cannot make an agreement next year that we should get more.
FM 98.1 Studio: That’s the UNDP Country Representative in Sierra Leone talking to Musa Kamara.
EDITORIAL
Do-Or-Die Battle in Guinea, Leone Stars Must Dazzle and Beat Benin to Make Everybody Proud Today
By Kabs Kanu, Guest Editor (15/06/2021)
The whole nation is seething with excitement and all ears are glued out to Conakry, capital of Guinea, today as the Leone Stars – the soccer ambassadors of Sierra Leone – do battle with Benin to determine the final qualifier for the Africa Nations Cup soccer debacle to take place in Cameroon next year. Despite the harrowing ordeal they suffered at the border when petulant Guinean immigration officials stopped them from entering their country for lack of Covid-19 test results. Sierra Leone’s footballers are in high spirits and determined to beat the Squirrels of Benin to make their third-ever Africa Nations Cup and make the nation proud.
Sierra Leone needs the soccer morale-booster after throwing away another golden opportunity last year when a stoppage-time penalty was awarded against Liberia but Skipper Ibrahim. Zingaley toyed with the Liberian goalkeeper who saved his feeble shot to deny Sierra Leone a deserved place in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This time, Leone Stars cannot miss it. The whole nation is behind them and even President Maada Bio has promised them mouth-watering financial largesse if only they can defeat Benin today to qualify for the Africa Nations Cup. It will be a massive achievement for Leone Stars who need just a single goal victory and Coach Keister said that the boys are determined to do it against the dark horses. Benin are a surprised new entrant to the African soccer limelight.
COMMENTARY
UNDP Exposes the Ignorance and Criminality of SLPP Government Officials
By a Concerned Sierra Leonean (15/06/2021)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is one of the UN agencies supporting development actions in the Republic of Sierra Leone. In recent times, the agency feels displeased and disturbed with the ignorance and criminality of SLPP government officials in working around UNDP funding policies and reporting system in implementing projects.
On that note, one of the institutions and projects of government that UNDP is supporting is the National Youth Commission and the Graduate Internship Programme. This institution was set up by the APC government, it attracted UNDP, APC, fulfill and work in line with all existing benchmarks and protocols. Today, the nation is benefiting directly from that brilliant initiative. As a result of SLPP knowledge deficiency, UNDP thought it wise to organize training for certain government officials including the former Chief Minister aka Mr 1%.