At the third Cabinet Retreat held at the Bintumani Conference Hall in Aberdeen, Freetown, on Friday 24 January 2020, President Bio declared war on ministers and heads of parastatals as the year 2020 marks a “Year of Delivery”.

The President’s declaration targets ministers and public servants that are not focused, professional, disciplined and prompt in taking actions on service delivery matters that will impact positively on the citizenry

In his keynote address at the two days retreat, President Bio was quoted to have said “I have no yellow card in my 2020 service delivery move, we must deliver and on time” noting that, he is going to be more intrusive in his 2020 governance drive.

Hence, he said the meeting was to review twenty-one months of governance and to assess the impacts of what had been done and what needed to be done further to make sure that Sierra Leone steps forward

“Despite being blessed with educated and talented people, the country had suffered for far too long because of a lack of leadership” he frowned

The President decided to engage with them because he wanted to clearly outline the political and governance expectations in the New Year, since 2020 is a year of service delivery.

He encouraged ministers and other public servants to work together as a team and assured them that he would continue to inspire everyone to work collectively and deliver for the good of the country.

With the theme: “Consolidating the Foundation for Service Delivery’’, the strategic objectives of the retreat included the reviewing of the New Direction progress on the implementation of the eight priorities from April 2018 - January 2020, to prioritising target setting for the delivery of results and outcomes.

Other objectives sought to ensure greater clarity in roles and responsibilities for ministers, deputy ministers as well as administrative and professional heads of ministries, to deepen understanding of the Medium Term National Development Plan and its linkages to Service Delivery, Performance Management and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis, said the two-day interactive session promised to build a high performing team spirit, for which he encouraged colleague ministers to make good use of the “We are here to develop a smart plan that is outcome and result oriented. We have the responsibility to deliver this nation, so we have to work together to change the narrative of our country.

“We have a competent team that inspires both local and international confidence. So, I count on your total support and commitment to deliver to our people,” he said.