The situation at INGO, Partners in Health, based in Boston, U.S.A., seems to be getting out of hand. Several staff members have recently been sacked. One such staff is Mrs. Hannah Lamina, District Administrative Manager, who was sacked on the 24th March 2017. Lamina is the wife of the suspended Kono Mayor, Saa Emerson Lamina.
Hannah Lamina was hired in 2015. She was let go from PIH on the 24 March 2017.
She said she received a query letter from the Human Resource Director on the 21st March 2017, on the basis that she served as a guarantor for a loan of Le 6,000,000 with the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, for a staff person of the organisation. That staff person was later sacked.
“This has never been an issue because we have other staff signing as guarantors for colleagues, so I don’t see any reason why I should be queried for that,” Hannah said.
The query letter stated, “PIH does not underwrite or guarantee loans made to staff by banks and other financial institutions. However, PIH certifies that they are employees but it is not responsible for repayment or ensuring repayment”.
The letter further disclosed, “such undertakings to a financial institution unbeknown to PIH exposed our business to a high level of financial risk and has consequences to our reputation, operations and service delivery standards”.
In response to her query on the 22nd March, Hannah Lamina said, she served as guarantor for the staff because the person was an “active, hardworking staff by then whose salary was running at the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank. I endorsed the loan as one of his managers within the organisation with no intention of incurring any liability to PIH”.
Lamina said when she received the query letter she immediately contacted the said person and the Bank to know about the status of the loan and the Commercial Bank disclosed that he has never defaulted even though he has been sacked.
The former PIH District Administrative Manager said other staff of PIH have loans at the Bank. Some of those loan guarantor letters were written by staff of PIH, “so why should my case be different?”
Hannah Lamina further informed Awoko that she was on sick leave when she received her termination letter from the Human Resource Director, Alusine Bangura. Her termination stated, “A decision was taken to relieve you from duty, stating, “Your dismissal is in reference to the financial commitment made to the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank , on behalf of Partners in Health, to a member of our team”.
This organisation said, “It is a clear violation of PIH HR Policy, which we discussed on 21st March 2017. Financially committing the organisation to a financial institution without authorisation compromises PIH reputation, service delivery standards, and donor accountability”.
According to the organisations’ Policy as it is stated that “where the employment is terminated by PIH Sierra Leone, for reason other than in the case of dismissal, the organisation shall give the employee one month’s notice in writing”.
Hannah argued, “this to me is witch hunting, discriminating, vicious and social injustice. Why was I singled out when there are others who are doing it.” She said, “I have taken the matter to the Ministry of Labour.”
Efforts to contact PIH local and International proved futile.
By Betty Milton
Tuesday April 25, 2017.