AYV News, May 16, 2025
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) Sierra Leone and stakeholders have ended an engagement for stakeholders for the establishment of the Republic of Sierra Leone Civil Service Cooperative Credit Union (CiVSCCU) on the theme ‘Building a Sustainable Financial Future for Sierra Leone’s Civil Servants.’
At the event held at the Mattia Conference Center, YouyiBuilding in Freetown, the keynote speaker, the Minister of MoPED, Madam Kenyeh Barlay referenced the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2024-2030 as the game changer five, affirming that civil servants are fundamental to the country’s development plans and therefore the need for a Credit Union (CU) to be established for them which need not be overstated that would make them more efficient and appealed to them to engage themselves in government’s flagship program which is the feed Sierra Leone.
According to the Minister, CUs for civil servants would ensure sustainable savings, secure and build a secure financial future for them to take control of their financial future, promote financial literacy, promote the culture of savings among civil servants, urged them to invest in other profitable ventures and commended the Steering Committee for a job well done in addition to the Irish Ambassador who is enthusiastic to ensure the establishment of the CiVSCCU.
The Minister also highlighted some of the achievements of the Steering Committee as establishment of the Secretariat, byelaws, loan and investment policies, partnerships with other organizations like the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the United Nations Development Program and the Irish League of Credit Union Limited.
Madam Kenyeh Barlay furthered that CiVSCCU would register with the Department of Cooperatives in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, that a pilot phase of the project would be launched, noted that seed money would be needed to kick-start the project, guaranteed that stringent safeguards would be put in place to protect members’ contributions as well as their personal information maintaining that although a lot has been done there is need to do more and that now is the time for action.
She went on to appeal to civil servants to embrace the opportunity, that their participation in the engagement would shape the CiVSCCU, appealed to the Government of Ireland to continue to mentor CUs in Sierra Leone to become a global model and assured that government is committed to provide the enabling and policy environment for CUs to operate in the country.
She reiterated that her Ministry would continue its support to conduct training programs for CU Board Members, that the initiative would be the cornerstone for generations yet to come and admonished all to translate the policies into action as well as make the vision of CiVSCCU a reality.
Other stakeholders who made salient statements included the Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Mr. Amara Kallon, representatives of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, the Human Resource Management Office, the Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service and the National Association of Cooperative Credit Union Associations respectively.
Highlights of the well-attended event were the group work and presentations, the question and answer sessions and the media engagement while Mr. David Abu, the Focal Person for the project and of MoPED, rendered the vote of thanks.
