By Marilyn King
The National Council for Civic Education and Democracy (NaCCED) with support from the Ministry of Finance, (MOF) on Monday 12th May 2025 launched the Citizen’s Guide to the National Budget of 2025 at the Ministry of Finance conference hall in Freetown.
In his welcome statement the Financial Sectary of the Ministry of Finance, Mathew Dingie said that NaCCED in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance simplify it to make sure that even the layman in the village understands Citizen’s Budget.
He continued that they want to make sure that they are all accountable, and the only way they can be held accountable is what you about to do is been known by the public.
He stated that they are particularly grateful with their colleague NaCCED for the valuable documents of the Citizen’s Budget.
The Chairman of NaCCED, Joseph M. Bindi gave an overview of the Citizen’s Budget Process said that the guide to the National Budget which is popularly known as the Citizen’s Budget is a document which attempts to explain to the citizens of Sierra Leone in a simple way, the revenue and expenditure projections of government for the year how and where it generates revenues, and how it intends to manage the resources for the good of its people.
He furthered that the budget aims at improving the standards of life of its citizen’s which is emphasized in the theme for this year.
He said in every financial year since 2018 after the reading of the National Budget by the Minister of Finance in parliament and upon its subsequent approval by the members of parliament, NaCCED partners with MOF to promote and strengthen the project title: Economic and Financial Management Education (EFME).
He furthered that the EFME aims to down size the voluminous national Budget document into a simplified and abridged version which can easily be understood by the ordinary Citizens.
He concluded that after the launch NaCCED will conduct Civic engagement through regional town hall meetings involving EDOCs NSAs and the Media.
He thanked the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister of Finance for their continuous support to NaCCED.
The Minister of Finance, Sheku Fantamadi Bangura while launching the Citizen’s Guide to the National Budget, said that what they look as a government they look at those challenges and try and ensure that formulate fundses that could be incremented to ensure that they integrate the impact of those effects on the people of Sierra Leone.
He said they will ensure that their physical policy which is basically the decisions they take as a government raising revenues and the relationship that they have been with the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank, on physical policies with government that will monitor them in the way that they will bear fruits for them to be remain resilient as a country and as an economy.
He mentioned that in the last couple of years 2023-2024 they have been on some circumstances and measures has been put in place in the name of policies that haven articulated in the budget and those policies has stated yelling some fruits and they are expected to do more.
