By Politico Staff Writer
The Country Officer of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Sierra Leone has pledged his organization’s continued support to the work of the Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC).
Joe Pemagbi was speaking at the closing ceremony of a three-day national retreat at Dohas Hotel in Bo.
The retreat, which was funded by OSIWA, provided an opportunity for the commission to look at its successes and challenges and to discuss a way forward as the year comes to an end and to review its scope of work to ensure there was an alignment between the aspirations of the commissioners, professional and administrative staff and the institutional mandate of the commission in implementing the RAIC law of 2013.
Mr Pemagbi said OSIWA was pleased to note that the commission was getting stronger and things were moving on right track. He urged the participants to try hard and earn the trust of the people of Sierra Leone “who will only come to you when they are confident in what you do.”
Speaking on the components and critical issues around the operations of RAIC, the Chairman and Information Commissioner Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, said the clear mandate of the commission is to facilitate access to information while describing information as power. He said his commission has made significant efforts to ensure realization of an open and easy access to information.
Dr. Shaw cited the relocation of the National Secretariat from Hill Station to Krootown road thus saving government an extra $10,000 (Ten Thousand Dollars) adding that the first ever internal audit and management and functional review has been conducted and the recommendations were captured in the draft strategic plan which he presented at the retreat.
The chairman recounted the lack of a website for the commission before he took up office saying his administration made a priority to get the commission’s website up and running. Dr Shaw cited limited staff capacity in both scope and depth as among the most pressing challenges that need to be urgently addressed to enable the commission fully and efficiently implement its mandate.
Dr. Emmanuel Gaima the lead consultant facilitator on governance, Dr. Emmanuel Gaima and his team took the commission’s staff through topics covering the importance of a strategic plan, strategic pillars, operationalizing the strategic plan, measurement and evaluation, resource mobilization strategy, which they described as key to the running of a successful commission.
Dr. Gaima encouraged the leadership of the commission to have a strategic plan that is tied to their mandate and ensure that the mandate, vision and mission of the commission are reviewed.
Other facilitators included Patrick Kawa of Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) who spoke about the clarity of roles and reporting lines, distinctions between political appointees and the technical staff, stressing the need for a clear understanding of the tasks and responsibilities and processes at work.
Kawa said the absence of roles leads to confusion, limited accountability and commitment, lack of confidence and the procrastination of assignments. He admonished the leadership of the commission to ensure all staff roles are clearly stated in their TORs, a concern that was also captured by the management and functional review done by the Public Sector Review Unit PSRU.
Executive Secretary of RAIC, Hon. Mustapha Braima said the retreat was an opportunity for a self-reflection and thorough scrutiny of commission’s activities and urged staff to make good use of the opportunity offered by the retreat to ensure the full mandate of the commission is implemented.
Staff of the commission thanked OSIWA for supporting the venture recommend that be held more frequently to aid proper understanding of the commission’s mandate.
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