By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)
The Office of the Ombudsman is to investigate issues of workers’ welfare as their salaries are said to be withheld.
Ombudsman’s office was set to promote and protect individual rights, and to encourage efficient public administration in public offices.
It was also established to provide a dispute resolution mechanism that will bridge the gap between government and the public. The Office of Ombudsman also seeks to promote cooperation between parties instead of only promoting litigation concerns. The Ombudsman allows increased of citizen access to dispute resolution.
The rise of modern inflexible states in the world has increased governments’ involvement in the lives of citizens thus introducing ever more complex administrative structures that individuals must navigate through.
It is important to provide citizens with the means to challenge arbitrary or unfair administrative action.
An ombudsman institution provides an individual with a vehicle for making complaints and obtaining possible remedies to inappropriate or unjust state action.
When the government acts unjustly or mishandles a situation or denies citizens their rights or benefits, the ombudsman provides a forum to air out these grievances by citizens and to possibly vindicate those in err.
Ombudsman institutions in the usually promote human rights protections and practices; develop judicial, legal, and regulatory frameworks that support democratic institutions and market-based economies; strengthen justice sector institutions and processes; ensure equitable access to justice; and develop technical excellence and state of the art sustainable activities in the fields of rule of law and human rights.
On Monday February 26, February 204, the Ombudsman, Tejan Ahmed Israel Jah Esq, paid a gentility call to the Ministry of Environment and his team of management at their offices at Wilkinson Road.
Explaining his mandate and functions, Israel Jah Esq stated that his office was established by the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No.6 of 1991 and the Ombudsman Act No.2 of 1997. Noting that the issues of injustices and mal-administration should be a thing of the past and that President Bio’s manifesto promise to restoring the integrity of the civil and public service architecture is to be realized.
He said that the reason for the civility call was meant to build a cordial working relationship between his office and the various MDAs.
In his response, the minister of environment, Dr. Jiwoh Abdulai, stated that the Ombudsman has a huge and important task ahead to get rid of civil and public service injustices and mal-administration.
He noted that the workers should feel welcomed in their own institutions to ensuring that service delivery is effective.
He maintained that it is important for people to know where to seek redress when they suffer from injustices in their workplaces.
Speaking to the communications department of the Ombudsman, they told Africa24 bureau that the unit is willing to work diligently with mainstream media both print and electronic media for a robust outreach in a bid to understand their work across the country.