Ombudsman Launches 100-Day Action Plan 

Friday 26th May, 2017

The Ombudsman of the Republic of Sierra Leone – Mr. Melron Nicol-Wilson has today, 26th May 2017, launched his 100-Day Action Plan, with a view to create an effective and productive office for the Ombudsman. The Action Plan primarily focuses on Case Management and Institutional Development. The 100-Day Action Plan is divided into 3 key projects: The POWER, EMPOWER and DELIVER Project. 

The POWER PROJECT seeks to give ‘enforcement powers’ to the Ombudsman, to be able to demand ‘Administrative Justice’ for the people of Sierra Leone and to safeguard their human rights, as well as to acquire a strategic plan that will guide the operations of the office, for the next five years. 

The EMPOWER PROJECT aims to empower the Office of the Ombudsman to deliver its mandate and to design and introduce structures that will develop the institution. 

The DELIVER PROJECT strives to deliver His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s instruction to the Ombudsman to ‘deal with cases speedily, with the highest level of professionalism and integrity’. 

The 100-Day Action Plan is the outcome of a nationwide consultation and institutional assessment carried out by the Ombudsman, in Freetown and the Ombudsman’s Regional Offices in Kenema, Bo and Makeni. The Action Plan predominantly focuses on enhancing public confidence, accountability, fairness and a new direction for promoting administrative justice. 

The Office of the Ombudsman is a public body, established by the Ombudsman Act, Act No.2 of 1997. The mandate of the Ombudsman is to investigate any action taken or omitted in the exercise of administrative functions of any Ministry, Department, Agency, Statutory Corporation and/or Institutions of Higher Learning, set up with public funds. The Office became operational in 2001, when the first Ombudsman was appointed by the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Over the years, the Office of the Ombudsman has identified that it has a number of key advantages in the role it plays in promoting good governance in Sierra Leone.