Payless and Powerless: SIERRATEL Workers In Distress

By Sahr Ibrahim Komba

(232news)

For decades, the Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company (Sierratel) stood as a symbol of national connectivity, modernization and resilience. Today, it has become a painful symbol of institutional neglect particularly for the very workers who built and sustained it.

In the midst of all of this are retired employees waiting years for their benefits, current staff enduring prolonged salary arrears, and families plunged into hardship after decades of public service. Their stories raise a troubling question: What happens when state-owned institutions fail the workers who sustained them?

Incorporated on 1 April 1995 through the merger of the Sierra Leone External Telecommunications Company and the Sierra Leone National Telecommunications Company, Sierratel was created to unify domestic and international telecommunications under one government-owned enterprise.

In its early years, it held a monopoly in fixed-line services and launched Sierra Leone’s first internet service in 1996 marking the country’s entry into the global digital era. During and after the civil war (1991–2002), telecommunications infrastructure remained a strategic lifeline for governance, humanitarian coordination, and national recovery.

Sierratel was once viewed as a strategic national asset  a revenue-generating enterprise capable of supporting government functions and economic expansion.

However, over time, competition from private operators, weak management structures, underinvestment in modernization, and inconsistent oversight eroded its competitiveness. By the 2010s, despite diversification into mobile and data services, structural weaknesses persisted.

Today, the company’s operational struggles are no longer abstract governance concerns. They are living realities for its workers.

For many former employees, retirement has brought not rest, but ruin.

Mr. Steven who preferred anonymity worked at Sierratel for over 30 years and retired in 2020, says he has yet to receive his end-of-service benefits.

“I devoted my entire working life to this institution,” he said. “I never imagined that after more than three decades of service, I would be left without my retirement benefits.”

According to him, the consequences have been devastating. His children have reportedly withdrawn from university due to unpaid tuition fees. He now survives largely on the goodwill of friends and sympathizers.

“It is humiliating,” he explained. “I worked honestly for my country. Today, I struggle to meet basic needs.”

More troubling are claims that several former colleagues have died without receiving their benefits. Others are reportedly battling illness without financial security or medical support.

“Some of us are on sick beds. Others have died. Some have left Freetown because they can no longer afford rent and have returned to their villages,” he said. “This is not how public servants should end their careers.”

These testimonies highlight a deeper national concern: the vulnerability of workers in state-owned institutions once their service ends.

Papa Kamara, a serving employee of Sierratel, disclosed that staff have endured prolonged salary delays with significant backlogs accumulating. He said this during an interview with Truth media.

“We have worked for up to twenty-three months with serious salary delays,” he said. “The situation is extremely difficult for staff and our families.”

He attributed the crisis to what he described as persistent management and administrative weaknesses, noting that repeated assurances of government intervention have yet to yield concrete improvements.

“We have heard promises that the issues will be addressed,” he added. “But so far, there has been no meaningful change.

He disclosed that when President Julius Maada Bio won the 2018 presidential elections, many of them at Sierratel were filled with hope that conditions would improve for the company and its staff. “During his time in opposition, we had provided internet services at his residence and regarded him as a close ally”,he said. We celebrated his victory, believing that our “best friend” was now at the helm of national affairs. However, the situation has since taken an unexpected turn, leaving many of us disappointed.

He urged President Bio to look into their situation, reminding him that “your friends are here, and they are hoping for your intervention to resolve the challenges facing them at Sierratel.” He stressed that their appeal is not just about employment, but about loyalty, sacrifice, and the hope that those once considered close will not be forgotten in difficult times.

For employees, delayed salaries mean unpaid rent, school fee arrears, rising debt, and mounting stress. For many, it has meant choosing between feeding their families and meeting other essential obligations.

When workers in a government-owned enterprise are unpaid for extended periods, it signals more than financial strain; it signals governance failure.

The Sierratel crisis has reignited debate about the treatment of workers in state-owned enterprises across Sierra Leone.

State institutions are expected to embody stability, reliability, and lawful conduct. Yet when workers dedicate decades of service only to face uncertainty in retirement, morale across the public sector weakens.

• Delayed benefits undermine confidence in public employment.
• Salary arrears discourage professional commitment.
• Perceived mismanagement fuels public distrust in government institutions.

Persistent concerns about political patronage in recruitment and promotions across the civil service further complicate the problem. When competence is compromised and oversight weakened, institutional performance suffers and workers bear the consequences.

Retired workers describe feelings of abandonment. Serving employees report emotional strain. Families suffer quietly. Children drop out of school. Healthcare is delayed.

These realities weaken not only individual households but also national productivity. A demoralized workforce cannot drive economic growth. An institution that fails its workers cannot command public trust.

When state-owned institutions neglect employee welfare, the social contract between citizen and state fractures.

Affected employees are demanding immediate and transparent action, including:

• Settlement of outstanding retirement benefits
• Payment of accumulated salary arrears
• Independent financial audits
• Clear restructuring and recovery strategies

“We are not asking for charity,” one retired worker emphasized. “We are asking for what we earned through years of service.”

The International Labour Organization emphasizes that workers should not be left without financial support when their employment ends. End-of-service benefits, such as severance pay or gratuity, are recognized as a key form of social protection meant to compensate workers for both job loss and years of service.

Under ILO Convention No. 102, workers are entitled to financial compensation after losing their jobs, usually calculated based on length of service and paid as a lump sum. These standards aim to ensure that workers leave employment with dignity, fairness, and some level of economic security.

Analysts argue that resolving the Sierratel crisis requires more than temporary bailouts. It demands structural reforms grounded in transparency, accountability, and professionalism.

Reform priorities must include:

*Guaranteed Worker Protection Mechanisms,  Retirement benefits and salaries must be treated as binding obligations, not discretionary payments.
*Independent Financial Oversight, Regular audits and public reporting to prevent future accumulation of liabilities.
*Merit-Based Leadership Appointments Competence-driven management insulated from political interference.
*Strengthened Parliamentary Oversight to Enhanced scrutiny of state-owned enterprises to ensure fiscal responsibility.

These reforms are not merely administrative adjustments; they are essential steps toward restoring confidence in public institutions.

Sierratel’s journey from telecommunications pioneer to institutional concern mirrors broader governance challenges facing Sierra Leone.

Right at its center are workers, men and women who committed decades of service and now find themselves uncertain about their future.

Telecommunications may appear technical, but its failure has deeply human consequences. When a state-owned enterprise cannot guarantee salaries or retirement benefits, it raises urgent questions about institutional accountability and national priorities.

Restoring trust in Sierratel is not simply about corporate recovery. It is about restoring dignity to workers, credibility to public institutions, and confidence in Sierra Leone’s governance framework.

For many affected employees, the demand is simple: honor the work they have done, pay what is owed, and ensure that public service is not rewarded with neglect.

The time for accountability and action is now.