Africa 24 news

Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) has just conducted a one-day in-depth training in public financial management with 20 journalists targeted from various media houses operating in Sierra Leone.

The training specifically focuses on the importance of the following thematic areas: general-purpose financial statement; accounting, and reporting on the revenue and government expenditures; and the need to understand government chart of account in a state.

In partnership with Christian Aid Sierra Leone, in rolling out the Promoting Accountability and Community Engagement (PACE) project, journalists were trained on Friday 10th, May 2024, at the CCSL Hall, King Herman Road in Freetown.

The journalists were selected from PFM Journalists Network and were representing various electronics and print media institutions.

“From your responses on the pre-test, it shows that 90 % understands what PFM is about.”

“Most of you after this training will be equipped in PFM reporting than even most of our workers in the public sector,” says one of the trainers, Abdulla Alhaji Alghali, who is head of Financial and Management Accounts at the Accountant General’s department in the Ministry of Finance.

The workshop was an initiative to empower the media personnel with relevant professional skills in reporting government’s budget and in covering other financial issues of the state.

The one-day workshop was facilitated by BAN in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance’s Accountant General’s department.

“It is hoped that journalists have been capacitated on the legal framework which guides the Accountant General and on how to prepare the Government of Sierra Leone’s Annual Public Accounts and Fiscal Reports,” says BAN’s Program and Policy Officer, Abubakrr Tarawally.

The capacity-building is said to have also improved the knowledge and understanding of these journalists in public sector accounting and reporting and in knowing other essential concepts such as GFS, Chart of Accounts, Annual Financial Statements, and International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

One of the participating journalists at the event admitted what she had learnt. “At first, I did not know much about PFM reporting and other codes used by miniseries on chart of account, but I believe this training has taught me a lot more…,” says Fatmata Jalloh, who works at Culture Radio at Grafton community which is located off Freetown.

BAN had conducted two similar workshops for journalists in the past few years.

The main objective of such a workshop, Mr Tarawally said,  is to strengthen the capacity of the media workers who are covering public financial management issues to be able to effectively demand greater accountability and transparency from duty bearers (MDAs).

The PACE consortium, led by Christian Aid Sierra Leone, comprises Budget Advocacy Network, SEND, Green Scenery, WONES, and NMJD, and the consortium seeks to enhance an inclusive, transparent, accountable, and peaceful Sierra Leone where citizens are able to claim their rights and enjoy it.