1. INTRODUCTION
Sierra Leone lies on the West coast of Africa with a distance of 28,000 square miles in length and bordered on the West by Guinea and Liberia with a inhabitants of 7 million and ninety-two thousand a person hundred and 13(7,092,113). It has a good diversity in the place of organic parts that comprise different topography, climatic ailment as effectively as vegetation designs. Sierra Leone has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of significantly less than 7.5 %, with a lower for every capita money of citizens. The rationale for this appalling determine of GDP can be partly attributed to the mismanagement of methods( human and products) which are not accounted for by means of supporting information for the total development of the place. Hence the lack of transparency and accountability as a result of data has normally been the continual data management troubles which have an effect on each individual Ministries, Departments and Company (MDAs). The continual data administration troubles have been the contributing aspects for the suffering of a vast vast majority of Sierra Leoneans which solid the blame squarely on terrible governance. This situation has been manifested in the political dispensation of the previous and current governments around the regulate of resources (human and resources) for the in general development of the state. As superior governance challenges grow to be immensely important, information trying to keep must be attentively compensated to. This is evidenced in the rights and responsibilities of folks as records have unlimited principal benefit. On this take note, it could be realised that any fashionable financial state which simply cannot hugely regard file maintaining barely build with no the existence of very good facts. This is due to the fact details is considered a commodity essential to preparing for countrywide enhancement in such an economy. In this vein the researcher suggest to examine about the data administration predicament at Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) in improving accountability and transparency(sustainable progress) in Sierra Leone.
1.1 Statement OF THE Trouble
Over the years a lot of troubles have been uncovered as pivotal to the present-day issues and essential to the long run good results of public sector documents management in Africa, Sierra Leone to be precise:
The ineffective use of lawful framework that guards the final decision earning about report classification, preservation, and destruction of documents is normally made in an abrupt method.
File preserving issues are unable to be accomplished without the need of the instruction of records staff at the public sector.
It is nevertheless a truism that Report Professionals are not very well paid in conditions of income when compared to other informational practitioners these kinds of as accountants and finance officers and small appreciation of their task. This lower profile is essentially the outcome of insufficient sources for data maintaining.
The lack of exploration programmes to market documents administration troubles much more commonly inside of and outside govt to emphasize the critical of quality information trying to keep for the shipping of accountable, productive and economical, and transparent authorities.
The deficiency of accessibility to properly-organised information which can be applied to formulate, implement, and maintained productive expert services. In Sierra Leone it is a common exercise in both of those authorities and personal departments for data officers to shed and misfile file since of disorganized programs.
The value of records and the data they contain, as properly as their potential for exploitation, in help of very good governance (sustainable progress), is not totally appreciated and understood throughout Sierra Leone society.
Thus dependent on these challenges highlighted over, the have to have to investigate on general public sector records to boosting superior governance prompted the researcher to examine about the document administration predicament at public sector organisations particularly MoFED.
1.2 AIMS AND Targets OF THE Examine
The key Purpose of the review will be to critically assess whether or not community sector documents are developed and managed successfully and effectively at the Ministry of Finance and Financial Development (MoFED) in enhancing very good governance, transparency and accountability in administration. Although the key objective of the study is to examine whether or not there is a information administration department headed by the data manager in getting right custody of all ministry records.
1.3 RELEVANCE OF THE Study
The relevance of this study are not able to be overemphasized. The study is related to the adhering to beneficiaries.
Foremost is the Federal government of Sierra Leone as sponsoring agent in disbursing money for the placing of organisation-large common for the cost of certain file equipment and equipment for the administration of records. This will boost the government to decrease expenditure for information management gear and supply in sustaining the finances-line typical. Also it will build improvement of the over-all efficiency and productivity in an organisation when price tag-gain strategy is managed.
Also, the researcher is of the viewpoint that the study will serve as a source materials for the management of records throughout Federal government Ministries, Departments and Organizations (MDAs) of which MoFED is no exception. It will also enrich disaster management solution for quicker and superior administration choices throughout MDAs.
Even further, employees at MoFED will come across the examine effective as they will be capacitated in the administration of records and archival administration. For instance big price tag is associated in processing of MoFED data, but they have no workers assigned to the responsibility of reviewing information procedures and processes, if any, with the objective of decreasing cost. So the MoFED staff members will be skilled for this endeavor.
Also, the research is relevant to the MoFED administration/registry personnel as it will present a very good model which can be produced into acceptable record management and archival processes for implementation. Pretty much, MoFED administration ought to maintain all records about the Ministry and so their registry/administration personnel really should assimilate the rising data management technologies.
Lastly, the public a lot more so end users and scientists, will uncover the research suitable as it permits them to have a superior comprehending of the administration of information, and will ensure that their records are properly kept and appraised. As a result the right to access info by the public will be enhanced for accountability and transparency.
1.4 Layout OF THE Research
The examine will think about sure variables relevant to the development and management of community sector records at MoFED. These are insurance policies, rules, and benchmarks amenities, equipment and supplies latest, semi-existing and non-present data preservation, stability and schooling competency disposition and retention ICT fantastic governance (sustainable development), transparency, accountability and corruption people and many others.
In this analyze the population will be stratified into 3 categories: Contract Officer (CO), Civil Servant Officers (CSO) and other workers at MoFED. And the sampling process to be made use of is the straightforward stratified randomized sampling system due to the fact of it heterogeneous nature of the populace and homogeneous in stratum.The supposed samples dimensions will be: 30 Civil Servant Officers, 20 Deal Officers, and 10 for other workers respectively.
Also, the methodology for this examine will be both qualitative and quantitative approaches. For qualitative approach observation and interviews will be performed and facts will also be elicited from textual content books, journals and internet and for quantitative technique questionnaires will be administered in amassing information. The writer has presently created an exploratory interview from some senior and junior workers relating to the aforementioned variables to be included into the questionnaire for the main study.
Lastly, for quantitative analysis strategy the handled facts will be presented/scored in various formats in the subsequent chapters: tabulations, charts, graphs and many others, and then interpreted and analyzed based mostly on particular targets relating to the management of records at MoFED. A Z-rating and Probility value will be utilised to take a look at speculation to prove regardless of whether or not good data holding increase transparency and accountability at MoFED adminstrtion.
