The leadership of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone has ended a two-day capacity training workshop for senior administrative staff on the theme “Understanding Public Sector Fiduciary Management,” at Lia Hotel in Lungi, Port Loko district in the North West Region of the country.
The training which was funded by the Judiciary of Sierra Leone was aimed at building the capacity of senior administrative staff on their fiduciary obligations in line with the institution’s core values of independence, impartiality, Equality, integrity and accountability to the citizenry.
Declaring the of purpose of the training, the Master and Registrar of the High Court of Sierra Leone, who’s the administrative head of the institution, Elaine Thomas-Archibald, said the training was organized principally to capacitate senior administrative staff to understand public sector fiduciary management in the wake of modern day challenges.
She said the Judiciary in the dispensation of its functions is bounded by law and ethics to get its fiduciary accountability right especially with the handling of public funds. “We are challenged when it comes to understanding best practices to handle public funds and we are certain that we will be able to achieve the aims and objectives at the end of the training,” she said.
The training looked into three key areas in which public funds are spent within the Judiciary including finance, budget and procurement.
Closing the two days’ workshop, the Acting Chief Justice, Hon. Justice N. C. Browne-Marke said every committed leader will in turn focus on capacitating or empowering his or her staff which is the ultimate aim of this training. He said the training is highly necessary particularly at a time when the leadership of the Judiciary has made marked judicial reforms and intend to do more.
He stressed that understanding public sector fiduciary management is key for all senior staff in the Judiciary, noting that the Judiciary is the key institution that determines whether financial and procurement rules have been violated or not and if violated, punish the convict.
He added that an effective training on how and when to handle public funds is the first thing that any transformational leader will do more especially when heading institutions like the Judiciary which he added should be the anchor for financial transparency and accountability and that his administration places at the acme.
He expressed his deepest appreciations to the facilitators for what he described as a job well done and being explicit in their respective presentations.
“I believe much has been learnt and the presentations were not only explicit, but highly educative,” the Chief Justice ended.
Public Relations officer of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, Moses Lamin Kamara said the training is not only timely but educative as the facilitators delved deep into the finance act and its applicability, the roles and responsibilities of both the procurement and budget committees among others.
The training looked into several topics including understanding the Public Financial Management Act 2015 which was handled by Mohamed L. Kargbo, understanding the budget cycle in Sierra Leone by Gbonie Conteh, the role of Budget Officer in MDA’s handled by Osman A. Kamara, understanding the Public Sector Accounting and Chart of Account by Abdullah Alghali.
It also focused on the role of an Accountant in an MDA which was handled by Ezekiel Ganawa, overview of the Public Procurement Process by Foday L. Kargbo and Enhancing Fiduciary Management through effective auditing in the Judiciary by Melvin Wilso
Source: AYV News
