The two-month study also shows that the ministry is overstaffed. It says only 20% of the ministry’s employees overwork, while the remaining 80% under-work due to overstaffing.

In addition, the study also shows that one of the underlying factors of the ineffectiveness at the ministry is lack of skills among employees.

It said the absence of clearly defined roles and responsibilities, poor disciplines of employees are some of the deficiencies identified at the Ministry.

At the opening of a two-day workshop Tuesday, attended by senior management staffs of the Ministry, Assistant Minister of Finance for Administration, Mr. Saye S. Hodge admitted the lapses and said the study was conducted as a requirement for donor support to the government.

He said the situation was compounded as a result of the series of governments that administered the country during the years of war.

The last time the Ministry of Finance experienced structural change was in 1972, when the Department of Treasurer was changed into a ministry by an act of legislature.

At the workshop, trainers said the existing structure of the ministry and the underlying designed principles which were conducted in 2001 are not in tune with the current mandate and core purposes of the ministry.

Uncoordinated changes, the trainers said, have been made by each department transforming the ministry into an intricate bureaucratic chain of commends with unnecessary layers of positions and processes which have seriously impacted its performance.

 The workshop is aimed at tackling some of these deficiencies to satisfy the whips of donor partners.

Meanwhile, some of the employees participating in the workshop are worried that they may loss their jobs as a result of recommendations that may come out of the workshop

Posted by: MHKonneh