Chief Minister Deceived Sierra Leoneans
Last Wednesday night, Chief Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh sat down on AYV’s “State of the Nation” with Umaru Fofana to discuss service, unity, and the future of the SLPP. Within minutes, one answer drowned out the rest.
Asked about the remuneration of top government officials, Dr. Sengeh said he had not paid attention to his exact earnings.
That single line moved faster than any policy announcement. By Thursday morning it was circulating on WhatsApp groups, dominating radio phone-ins, and being debated by markthe et women in Freetown. The anger was not about the figure on a payslip. It was about a principle: public money, public accountability.
Every minister in Sierra Leone knows the terms before they sign. Salaries, allowances and benefits for appointees are gazetted. They are subject to audit by the Auditor General. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance and Parliament have published pay structures following pressure from groups including the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International. The source of those funds is not in doubt. It is taxpayers.
To hear the second-highest office in the land claim he has not focused on what he earns therefore strains credibility. It also sends a poor signal to citizens who are being asked daily to pay taxes, accept austerity measures, and wait longer for basic services.
Dr. Sengeh went on the programme primarily to dismiss speculation about the SLPP flagbearership. “My focus remains on serving President Julius Maada Bio and delivering on the government’s commitments to citizens,” he told viewers. “What keeps me going every day is how I can serve President Bio, how we can deliver for the people of this country, and how we can make life better for you and your loved ones.”
No one disputes the need to deliver. His work in education, digitalization, and in pushing the Agreement for National Unity will be judged on its merits. But leadership is also about example.
Here is the problem Sierra Leoneans cannot ignore: you cannot credibly present yourself as a future president while pleading ignorance about the basic financial facts of the office you hold today. The presidency is the ultimate office of accountability. If a Chief Minister cannot answer a simple question about his own salary, how will he answer for billions in the national budget?
Defenders have called the remark inconsequential, arguing that results matter more than one slip in an interview. That argument would hold for a private citizen. It does not hold for a public servant whose salary is paid from the public purse, and whose authority exists by public trust.
“Public office is public trust,” a Freetown-based analyst told this paper. “You cannot lead on delivering for the people if you claim not to know what the people are paying you.”
Critics say the timing makes it worse. Teachers are asking for better conditions. Nurses are working with limited resources. Civil servants are watching every lone to see where it goes. In that climate, a senior official saying he has not looked at his earnings looks detached. It looks like the rules that apply to everyone else do not apply at the top.
Transparency advocates insist this is not about envy. It is about principle. Both the Agreement for National Unity and the Tripartite Committee report were framed around restoring public confidence in institutions. Confidence is not restored by slogans. It is restored by small, daily acts of openness.n
If the Chief Minister misspoke, he should say so plainly and state the figure. If he meant to dodge, he should reconsider, because dodging on salary today invites bigger questions tomorrow. So far, silence since the clip went viral has only deepened the doubt.
Sierra Leone does not need leaders who treat accountability as a talking point for international forums. We need leaders who practice it in ordinary interviews, in ordinary weeks, when no one is watching except the people who pay them.
Dr. Sengeh has served in high office for years, first in education and now as Chief Minister. He knows how government works. He knows where the pay structures are published. To suggest otherwise insults the intelligence of the public.
If he, and others with presidential ambition, are serious about leading this country, they must start by being fully accountable for the offices they currently occupy. That means knowing the numbers. That means declaring them without being pressed. That means welcoming an audit, not hiding behind “I haven’t focused on it.”
The debate triggered by this interview will pass. The standard it sets will not.
Public funds are not a private matter. Public salaries are not a technical detail.
They are the first test of whether a leader understands that the job belongs to the people.
On that test, “I don’t know” is not an answer.