Investigations conducted by the NightWatch have uncovered that the management of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration, under the new Executive Director, Paul Sobba Massaquoi, is set to fire fifty staff perceived to have been recruited by the last administration.
Dismissal letters have already been typed and printed, and waiting to be delivered to affected staff by the Human Resources Manager on orders from the Board Chairman, Umaru Dumbuya.
Mr. Dumbuya who is the Sierra Leone People’s Party Deputy National Chairman is always feels bad whenever he sees staff he refers to as active supporters and members of the last government of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) Party.
The termination move is said to have won the full support and backing of the Executive Director, Paul Sobba Massaquoi. Massaquoi is the programmes Director of the Hands off Our Girls campaign, Office of the First Lady.
The newly and third hired SLMA Executive Director is quoted to have bragged elsewhere and so many other quarters saying; “We are going to flush remnant staff recruited by the last APC administration, and replace them with our boys – true ruling SLPP members and supporters.”
As recent as last Friday 21st August, 2020, the Officer in Charge of Safety at SLMA, Hartwell Williams, was illegitimately thrown in an indefinite suspension with no justification from neither from the Executive Director nor the entire SLMA administration.
All workers, professionals and non-experts at the SLMA are now worried about losing their jobs, even though there is no effective service delivery at the institution, as all professionals, down to junior staff, are awaiting their various letters of termination.
One key staff, heavily confronted with the issue, is the Administrative Manager, Uthman Kamara, and his Deputy, Princess Kanu, among forty-eight (48) others, including boat controllers, who are charged with the task of always ensuring safety and security at sea in case of any eventualities.
However, all effort to reach the Communications Department of SLMA for their side of the issue proved futile. Details into the investigations continue as we keep watching round the clock.