The fourth Ombudsman of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Leon Jenkins-Johnson Esq. has in a press release issued last Friday 18^th November 2022, officially resigned his position the outgoing Ombudsman of the country.

As stipulated in Section 5.1 of the Ombudsman Act No. 2 of 1997, his tenure of office comes to an end on 5^th December 2022, which is why lawyer Leon Jenkins-Johnson Esq. has resigned a week plus before time.

The former Ombudsman outlined gains recorded during his tenure of office saying; “Upon assumption of office, the office was relatively unknown but today majority of Sierra Leoneans are now aware of the Office of the Ombudsman and the services it provide”.

Counting his success, Leone Jenkins-Johnson Esq said that during his tenure as an Ombudsman, his office received 1, 832 complaints in Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko, and they were able to conclude 734, referred 614, which were not under his mandate, while 484 remained under investigation countrywide until his resignation.

He said the office has received four unmodified audit opinions from the two separate auditors and the audits of it financial statements for the year 2018-2021.

“I will like to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to President Julius Maada Bio, the Government and the people of Sierra Leone for the opportunity offered him to serve as the fourth Ombudsman of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

He said the Office of the Ombudsman is pivotal to democracy and it is for good reason that it is embedded in Section 146 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No. 6 of 1991, adding that he implored President Bio and the Government to continued support the Office of the Ombudsman.

Observers say lawyer Leon Jenkins-Johnson Esq. stepped aside a week plus before official end of his tenure due to fear of blame shifting for failure to serve well in his former capacity as Ombudsman of the country.