In a press release dated July 5, 2019, the government of Sierra Leone through the Financial Secretary announced that out of a total sum of approximately 67 Billion Leones (SLL 66,830,114,540.00) owed as pensions to 371 former political government employees – including the former president, vice-presidents, former ministers and deputies, ambassadors and deputies, information and cultural Attachés, heads of agencies and departments – a fifty percent payment had been effected to the above erstwhile officials as pensions and gratuities, with the remaining fifty percent to be payable through Nassit.

The government reported that despite the lack of any appropriations for such pension payments in the 2018 budget by the erstwhile APC government, the current government had deemed it necessary to expend this huge sum from the recent IMF development disbursement totaling 13.9 million dollars.

The questions that need pondering and answering are why the above former government officials are or were not part of the Nassit pension scheme? Are such lump sum pension payments sustainable from the Consolidated Revenue Fund? What yardstick or legislation was utilized in determining eligibility? Should the parliament and government not now review the underlying legislations and seek to harmonize all government pensions to be managed and administered by NASSIT?

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