President Bio should act fast or else the Office of the Ombudsman will soon be history because certain individuals employed as senior staff are busy undermining the credibility of the institution on the pretext that they have the highest political connection and are untouchable.
They are busy frustrating well-meaning Sierra Leoneans appointed by the President to head that institution and administer administrative justice to citizens without fear or favour.
The previous Ombudsman, Leon Jenkins-Johnson, had to resign his position because he couldn’t withstand the toxic behavior of those senior staff of the institution, who believe that they are not answerable to the Ombudsman and can do whatever without being questioned.
As per law established, the Ombudsman is the superior of the office and all other employees are answerable to him, but that does not applies in practical situation as some senior officials tend to go out of bounds, taking decisions without the knowledge of the Ombudsman.
“Despite he does not have the authority to do so, the ES recruits and promote staff without my knowledge, consent/approval. He will send the papers for recruitment/promotion to the Ministry of Finance or Accountant General’s Department in the guise that he has copied me when in actuality; he didn’t inform me about them. Another major concern is that when staff retires or resigns, he hides such information from me. When I request for staff files, he refuses or gives me. Even when staff are proceeding on leave as of right, he grants same without informing. Due to lean number of staff in the office it is but necessary that staff proceed on leave one after the other and where the demands of the office require we ask the staff to wait until proper modalities are put in place for a replacement. Notwithstanding these structures, he would authorize a staff to proceed on leave even though I had earlier told the staff to wait,” the Ombudsman complained in his December 3rd letter to the Secretary to the President at State House.
While the Executive Secretary is boasting around that he is the administrative head of the institution and can undertake financial decision without the knowledge of the Ombudsman, but Section 16(1) of the Office of the Ombudsman Act of 1997 speaks to the fact that he is answerable to the Ombudsman.
16. (I) The Office of the Ombudsman shall have a Secretary appointed by the President Secretary after consultation with the Ombudsman.
Concord Times is in possession of transactional documents in which the Secretary authorised transfer of payment without the knowledge of the Ombudsman.
Investigation continues.
