The recruitment of the CIM staff came to a complete halt in the second quarter of 2018 which meant that several key BI’s did not get the technical staff that would have been recruited for them due to the CIM budget deficit notification from the RCRF project. The recruitment component was intended to support the CIM staff in the period between 2015 up until 2020.
One immense and reoccurring concern for the project as of late was that of the sustainability of the salaries of the CIM staff in the last half of the year. This effected the morale of those that were still working but were unpaid since August 2018 where some contracts are due to expire. While on the contrary, a large number of other CIM staff were in fact paid in the months of October, November and December of 2018 with no justifiable explanation given as to why these distinctions were made between the CIM staff. The current remaining number of CIM staff now in service is 133 of which 117 are ‘stream A’ civil servants while 16 are ‘stream B’ (advisers).
The project has already seen a high turnover where 25 people recently resigned and this number may increase if this is not sustained as losing hard working staff is not in the best interest of the stakeholders. A cloud is hanging over their heads as the CIM recruited staff are asking what the near future will look. The FGS and the World Bank need to address this issue urgently as their efforts made in the reform process so far will be impacted if this is not covered by the RCRF project.