 PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC)
The Public Service Commission of Sierra Leone was set up in 1948 by publication in the Sierra Leone Royal Gazette No. 4112 of 16th September, 1948. It then assumed the function of the promotion and Transfer Committee, and Appointments committee. The then PSC was non-executive and, though it gained executive status with limited powers in 1963, it remained only an advisory body to the then Governor on appointments, promotions and transfers until independence in April 1961.
The Transition to Independence
An Order in Council contained in Public Notice No. 26 of 1953, gave the then Governor the power to appoint a Public Service Commission for Sierra Leone (Public Notice No.28 of 1954) and to which body he may refer for advice on issues regarding appointments, promotions or transfers of public officers or any matter that, “in his opinion”, affected the public service or public officers. The first task assigned by the Governor to the newly “strengthened” PSC was to follow up on the Africanization of the Senior Service of the Public Service. This include reporting annually to the Governor on progress of the process, both in terms of appointing Sierra Leoneans to senior positions and the provision of training schemes for new recruits and those in clerical posts in the public service that have shown some potential of rising to higher grades.
The Public Service Commission of Sierra Leone derives its current mandate from Section 151,152, and 154, of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.
PSC Regulations
The PSC Regulations of 1982 pre-date the 1991 Constitution. These Regulations deal with procedure to be followed by the PSC in executing its functions and these to be followed by responsible Officers in the pursuit of their duties.
It is worth noting that since 1982, and even after the enactment of the 1991 Constitution, no action was taken to update or write these Regulations which should have reflected changing circumstances in terms of Reform and Change.
There is therefore the pressing need to review and update these Regulations in order to incorporate the relevant provisions made in line with Section 151,152,154,163 and 164 of the constitution and other matters related to the functioning of a reformed PSC.
The Mandate
Section 152 Subsection 1 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, empowers the PSC, to appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the public service (including power to make appointments on promotion and to confirm appointments) and to dismiss and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices shall vest in the Public Service Commission’.
In addition to the above, Section 152 (2) provides for the delegation by the President of some of his appointments functions to the PSC by stipulating that:
‘The President may, subject to such conditions as he may think fit delegate any of his functions relating to the making of appointments, including the power to make appointments or promotions and to confirm appointments, by direction in writing to the Public Service Commission or to a committee thereof or to any member of the commission or to any public Officer’.
At the same time, Section 152 Sub-section (10) authorizes the PSC to delegate any of its functions or parts sections of itself or of the public service, while at the same time having the authority to determine by legal and regulatory instruments, how best it can effectively and efficiently perform its functions as follows:
‘The Public Service Commission may, with the prior approval of the President , make regulations by constitutional instrument for the effective performance of its functions under the Constitutional instruments for the effective performance of its functions under this Constitutions or any other law, and may, with such prior approval and subject to such conditions as it may think fit, delegate any of its powers under this section by directions in writing to any of its powers under this section by direction in writing to any of its membership or to any public officer.
Composition of the PSC
The composition of the PSC as provided in the 1991 Constitution Section 151 (1), consist of the chairman, and not less than two and not more than four other members appointed by the president, subject to approval of parliament.
The Changing Jurisdiction of the PSC
The jurisdiction and legal status of the PSC widened progressively after independence up until the 1991 Constitution, following which this jurisdiction was limited by the exclusion of Public Corporations and the Police Force. Further limitations included the passing of the Local Governments Act, 2004, the Parliamentary Service Act,2007 and Health Service Commission Act, 2011.
The day-to-day work of the Commission is supported by the secretariat headed by the secretary. The Secretary to the commission, as head of administration, is also the Accounting Officer of the Commission. By the end of 2014, the Commission had a total of 33 technical, administrative and support Officers (Annex Two).
- Directorates and Units of the Commission
The revised structure of the PSC gives a corporate feel to its organization as an entity and charts a clear career pathway for every employee. There are four Directorates in total, each of which has three units focusing on specific thematic aspects of the work of the PSC. In total, therefor, the PSC has 12 Units:
(i) Recruitment and career Development Directorate
(a) Appointment and selection
(b) Examinations
(c) Training and Carrier Development
(ii) Policy & Research Directorate
(a) Recruitment
(b) Institutional Reform
(c) Employment policies
(iii) Human Resource Audit Directorate
(a) HR performance Audit
(b) Grievances & complaints
(c) Monitoring and Evaluation
(iv) Corporate Services directorate
(a) Administration & Human Resource
(b) Finance & procurement
(c) Communication & ICT
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