The Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, has engaged representatives of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), in discussions around the welfare and safety of workers, and African workers’ efforts to contribute to the halting of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa in general and Sierra Leone in particular, so that internal resource mobilisation opportunities for financing social protection would improve.
In a courtesy call visit to the minister, the Regional Trade Union’s Deputy General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, explained that the regional workers’ union organises and coordinates over 17,000,000 men and women across Africa.
Africa, he stated, is at a time when we are witnessing the “resurgence of Pan-Africanism sentiments”.
“For us as organised workers, we see and believe that the resurgence to pan-African beliefs and actions should have cultural, spiritual and transformational characters, which Africans must consciously and effectively harvest for good and not miss it”.
We must work hard and be in a good hurry to carve out legacies in the opportunities we have been given to serve our people. “Whatever we do now will be a legacy to the unborn generations,” he stated.
Mr. Odigie explained that in 2020, they started a project in Sierra Leone titled: “Trade Union’s contributions in the Utilization of Social Dialogue to Address Fragilities”.
One of the pillars of the project is a campaign called: “Securing Sierra Leone’s Future: The Role of Trade Unions in Combating Illicit Financial Flows for Social Services, Peace, and Security in Sierra Leone.”
He said that the project intended to support the country to not revert to its negative civil conflict past.
He said that though the COVID-19 Pandemic slowed down the project implementation, the activities have since restarted, and “we are happy that it is doing well here in the country”.
He admonished the minister and government to allow workers to be unionized and empowered, to lessen the burdens of engagement with faceless and rudderless groups in times of restiveness.
He noted that an organized and empowered workforce is an asset for national mobilization for nation-building, cohesion, and transformation.
“When they are unionised, you won’t need to talk much, you only have to ensure and utilise regular and genuine consultations with their leaders.
Allowing them to be unionized will be in the government’s best interest,” the trade unionist admonished.
He pointed out that workers’ empowerment does not necessarily have to be monetary, but the proper implementation of relevant labour laws.
In response, the minister expressed delight about the project, adding that he gets excited by anything that seeks to educate and mobilise people for transformative change in society.
He said that the President, His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, believes in investing in the country’s population, which is why a huge junk of finance has gone into Education since 2018.
He said that the Bio-led administration believes in and respects dialogue greatly, adding that that was the main reason he pushed for the repeal of the obnoxious Part 5 of the 1965 Public Order Act, which criminalized Libel, in his previous role. He assured the partners of openness on his part and that of government at all times.
“Nothing has changed here in terms of collaborations and partnerships; we are always in this together,” the minister reaffirmed.