Chairman of the CSO /UNDP Forum Victor L Koroma has at a press briefing held at YMCA over the weekend complained that “if OGI must succeed there is need to relocate the office because Sate House is not accessible to the public.”
He noted that the Open Government Initiative is a platform for Government officers and the public to dialogue. Koroma said Civil Society may likely lose confidence in their elected representatives and those in governance because they do not have feasible ways of getting on to their people through a dialogue forum as hatred, corruption and poverty have put them under.
“OGI will not be a neutral force in breaking the culture of silence between the elected and the electorate and also to promote the culture of information flow, transparency and accountability if the office is located at State House,” he said.
Koroma also said that OGI’s aims to bring the people closer to the Government and the Government closer to the people cannot be achieved at State House because most citizens do not have access to state house to ask questions or make recommendations.
“The people of Sierra Leone want to meet with their elected representatives to tell them about problems affecting their communities but they lack the medium,” adding not everyone will be allowed to enter State House just to ask the government questions.”
He said Civil Society believes OGI wishes to guarantee and foster the ground by giving an opportunity to the people to demand their rights and ask relevant questions relating to their development, hence exposing government officials to public scrutiny.
Koroma said stated that OGI needs to ensure transparency, accountability, good governance, political tolerance, and prevention of ethnic and regional divide that has existed over the past decades by creating a common ground for dialogue.
He however welcomed the recent activities of OGI in Kenema by bringing parliamentarians to their people in the first field visit which he said was successful as nine members of parliament were present and they interacted with their constituents peacefully.
He said several issues emerged at the Town hall meeting in Kenema which included health, education, youth employment amongst others and government officials responded accordingly. He urged OGI to continue the meetings but recommended the immediate removal of the OGI office from State to a suitable place where the people can be able to access the office without any hindrance.
Some of the civil groups also expressed concern over the leadership structure of OGI while others demanded to know the outcome of the Karamoh Kabba investigation regarding the alleged missing money amounting to millions of leones
By Saidu Bah
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