The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) has refuted allegation making rounds on social media that they are refusing to pay Ad-hoc staff who were hired to conduct the Registration and Issuance of National Identification Numbers (NIN) to School pupils in the Western Area and Eastern Region.

The Authority, in a press release dated 13th April, 2023 signed by the Director General NCRA, Mohamed Massaquoi denied the allegation and referred to it as untrue, misleading and unfounded.

The press release reads as follows:

‘’The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) wishes to inform the general public that information on Social Media alleging that the Authority has refused to pay Ad-hoc staff who were hired to conduct the Registration and Issuance of National Identification Numbers (NIN) to all School pupils in the Western Area and Eastern Region concurrently is untrue, misleading and unfounded.

While the NCRA views the slanderous rumours as an attempt to distract the focused attention of Education stakeholders involved in the exercise for their personal aggrandizement, it is obliged to respond that:

 

  1. Contracts have been issued to Ad-hoc staff conducting the Registration exercise in both Regions through the District Registration Officers in the respective NCRA District Offices. The return of signed Contracts validates willingness to work and confirms the number of staff actually conducting the exercise. The Authority will be constrained to make payments without receipt of signed Contracts.
  2. Upon completion of the exercise. Ad-hoc Staff are expected to produce evidence of work done in the form of Reports and return of NCRA assets, through the District Registration Officers of the respective Districts, to warrant payment for services provided.
  3. Payment of Allowances is contingent upon successful and satisfactory execution of the Terms and Conditions set in the Contract.
  4. Ad-hoc Staff are in possession of sensitive Registration equipment/ Kits and Report on the exercise that MUST be returned to the Authority before payments can be made.

While preparations are being made to effect payment to deserving Ad-Hoc Staff who have been satisfactorily verified to have met the Terms and Conditions set in their Contracts for the two Regions (Western Area and Eastern Region) scheduled for Tuesday 18th April 2023, the NCRA urges those who have neither submitted Reports nor returned signed Contracts and equipment issued to them to do so by Saturday 15 April 2023 through their respective Supervisors serving as Zonal Heads for the exercise drawn from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU), Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (CPSS), National Council of Head Teachers (NACOHT), etc. This will enable them meet the scheduled payment date of 18th April 2023 at the respective NCRA Offices in Western Urban (Kennedy Street). Western Rural (Waterloo), Kenema, Kailahun and Kono Districts. The payments will be witnessed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to ensure transparency and accountability of the process.

The Authority continues to assure the general public that with support from the School Authorities and other Stakeholders across the country, no School pupil in the country will be left out of the Registration and Issuance of NIN as directed by Cabinet. The NCRA therefore wishes to entreat all Ad-hoc staff to continue to exercise patience as they did when they wanted to be considered for the opportunity while it makes every effort to attend to them in the shortest possible time with the observance of due process’’.