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Inducing Development Results in Sierra Leone’s Public Sector: A Look at the Performance Tracking Table as a Results Tool

Sierra Leone has witnessed massive public sector reforms to maximize development results since the end of its civil war in 2002. The reforms included the introduction of results-based management (RBM). Since 2006, the country has experimented with a performance tracking table (PTT) to inject a culture of results reporting and to deliver better public services. This tool has extensively evolved and gained widespread adoption, and has been devolved to local councils, too. This study carried out an assessment of the PTT with a view to informing what needs to be done to make it more effective, and to draw lessons from its application for possible replication in other African countries. A review of documents and the general literature was undertaken, supported by interviews with selected public sector personnel to gauge perceptions of the table’s successes and challenges in Sierra Leone. The PTT tool has instilled huge awareness about the need for enforcing accountability in the public service to produce needed results for the public, especially the poor. It has also aided monitoring undertaken by civil society organizations. Major challenges that came out strongly include the low level of incentives for civil service personnel and technical capacity constraints in the application of the tool.