With Aruna Rashed Toma Bangura

The Country’s national telecommunication company Sierratel, which should have been the lead company in terms of telecommunication and internet service has now been rendered dead and buried due to inefficacy and maladministration.

The administration of this moribund institution have been running dry with no incentives, leave allowances and salaries as workers of this institution have now been completely one year without receiving their monthly emoluments, leave allowances and salaries. Some workers are speculating that the institution is not receiving its annual subvention from government through the Ministry of Finance.

Sierratel has been left in the lurch and languishing while private mobile network operators (MNOs) continue to flourish and making huge profits by increasing prices for data and other social services.

Sierratel that could have been the pride of the nation in telecommunication is on the brinks of collapse due to negligence from the government.

It parental, supervisory and regulatory body which is the Ministry of Information and Communication has not been moving the institution to lead in terms of communication and social telecom services.

The Minister of Information and Communication Mohamed Rahman Swarray (Rhado) last year assured the citizenry that Sierratel will be rebranded as they have entered into a public private partnership agreement with Sentinel a mobile telecom operator based in Gambia. It was welcoming news for many citizens who applauded the Minister for making the bold move. But until the rush hour towards the polls people have not seen the investors who are to rebrand the outdated institution.

Late last year, some frustrated and aggrieved workers stormed the office of the Information Minister at Youyi building on Brookfields demanding Mr. Rhado Swarray to address them on their salaries which they have not received for full one year therefore leaving them and their families in despicable conditions of living.

These unpaid workers have done all they could in their best interest so that they can earn part of their salaries but to no avail as they have been classified and categorized as supporters of the past regime who were put on temporal employment by the former Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s regime.

This has been the conventional way of governing the people because governments in and out have deliberately failed to address issues of workers who some Ministers, Heads of Institutions and Agencies have wickedly refused to pay because they suggested they might not be supporting their party.

Many a times, people have died and run mad out of this frustration because officials of the ruling government party will not pay them their end of service benefits not until there is a transition of power. And Sierratel cannot afford to pay its workers despite generating revenue for the government.

Some frustrated workers who spoke to this medium complained that most of their colleagues in the same struggle have given up the ghost due to the persistent delay from the side of government to release their over one year salaries and end of service gratuities.

Sometimes last year, these angry and frustrated workers did a peaceful protest by holding placards in front of the Presidential Lodge at Hill Station, where they were  beaten and arrested by the police alleging that these ordinary and peaceful citizens who have worked and served their country with due diligence were plotting a coup d’état for President Bio. Nine of these Sierratel workers were arrested and whisked to the famous “Benghazi” at the OSD headquarters on Brookfields for proper flogging by stationed OSD personnel.

These anonymous workers said they have been for the past 3 years without any leave allowances and have worked for 8 months without receiving their salaries. And this has made living very unbearable for them as most of their homes are in deplorable condition because they have no other means to eke out for the everyday survival of their families and themselves.

One of the deprived staff told this medium that she has been sitting down at home doing no work because Sierratel do not have work materials and no money to run the institution, adding that her family has separated for not paying her house rent leading to ejectment notice. This female staff disclosed that their phones were seized by the police during their peaceful protest and until now have not been given to them.

Sierratel which could have been the head in terms of telecom and internet services by bringing pride to the nation and becoming the sole regulatory and supervisory body is now staggering to survive under mounting pressure by private MNOs and therefore has been rendered useless and is now the tail of telecom in Sierra Leone.