By: Hassan Osman Kargbo
The Head of the Ombudsman in Sierra Leone, Tejan Ahmed Israel Jah Esq has disclosed that not all complains their mandate cover.
He made this statement on Tuesday 7th May 2024, at the weekly press conference organized by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education held at the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at Tower Hill Freetown.
According to him, the Ombudsman’s office has its mandate and not all complains their mandate cover and where they have a complain that’s not fall under their mandate they could refer those complains to legal Aid Board, the ACC, Human Right Commissions and even to the AG’s office.
He noted that for 2022, the Ombudsman received eight hundred and ninety-eight (898) cases or complains that were sent from the public and among those cases they referred 263 case that do not filled under the mandate of the Ombudsman. He said they have 228 cases that are currently under their investigation and the cases that have completed or they had concluded is 407 cases.
He continued that the Ombudsman’s Office is playing a crucial role in addressing complaints between citizens and the State, focusing on maladministration and injustice suffered by citizens due to government actions or decisions.
He admitted that the office of the Ombudsman was created by the constitution of Sierra Leone and it showed how important is the office in the country and the Constitution had empowered them to do their work freely, adding that any individual of the public which includes non-national that things or feels aggrieved as a result of any government administrative actions should go and complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.
He also reiterated that the office of the Ombudsman also have mandate over institutions of higher learning and education including all public universities in the country.
He added that citizens are encouraged to utilize the services of the Office, which operates at no cost to the public.
