Suppliers of rice and condiments to the Sierra Leone Correctional Service (Officers and Inmates) have ceased supply due to the failure by the Ministry of Finance to settle outstanding arrears running into Billions of Leones, according to reports obtained by the Global Times.
The halt in supply comes as suppliers remain owed significant amounts for already delivered supplies, with some waiting up to eight months for payment.
Solcout Enterprise, the company providing rice to officers and inmates, is reportedly owed well over Le25 Billion, as per figures disclosed to the Global Times.
Expressing frustration, one supplier of condiments to the Correctional Service lamented, “Our businesses are collapsing like a pack of cards…We have not been paid for months…The banks are charging interest rates that are killing our businesses…The government’s failure to pay us is adding salt to injury…We have stopped supplying because we have run out of money to pay our creditors.”
A spokesman for the Correctional Service confirmed that their leadership has engaged with suppliers and urged them to be patient.
Meanwhile, sources reveal that suppliers of rice to the military and police are experiencing intermittent payment.
