Wednesday 30th May, 2018

Section 9 (2) of the Ombudsman Act of 1997 provides that:

'A person who is detained in custody is entitled, upon making a request to the detaining authorities -

(a) to be provided with facilities for preparing a complaint under this Act and for the enclosing of the complaint in a sealed envelope; and

(b) to have the complaint forwarded to the Ombudsman, without undue delay, a sealed envelope delivered by him to the person in  whose custody he is detained and addressed to the Ombudsman.'

Pursuant to the above provisions, a team of mediation and communication officers from the Office of the Ombudsman has been visiting the various police divisions in Freetown to sensitise the officers and the detainees about the rights of persons held in detention to lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.

The week long sensitisation drive which began on Monday 27th May 2018, is targeting the various police divisions in the Western Area including the Central, Congo Cross, Aberdeen, Lumley, Goderich, Mountain Cut, Eastern Police, Ross Road, Kissy Old Road, and Waterloo police divisions.

So far, the team has visited the Central, Congo Cross, Aberdeen and Lumley police stations.

The team comprised Ishmael Jalloh,  Hawanatu Bangura, Ade-Kumbi Emeline Renner, Mamie Fomba and Christopher Wallace - Johnson.