Head of Chancery at Sierra Leone Mission in New York is doing an impressive job

 

By KABS KANU :

The relatively new Head of Chancery of the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, Minister-Counselor Mr. Alhusine Sesay , is providing a  tremendous boost  to the operational capacity of the Mission .

Since he arrived over a year ago to replace Mrs. Margaret Jah-Matturi, who was recalled to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Sesay has won the respect of his workmates for the expeditious manner he has been handling the  administrative affairs of the Mission.

HOC ALHUSINE SESAY

Since his arrival, Mr. Sesay , who is the head of the administrative section  of the Mission ( The Permanent Representative is the political  and  overall head of the Mission ) has ensured that  the  legitimate benefits and emoluments of employees , which had been subject to delays due to  administrative red tapes and  bureaucracy,  have been paid. Those employees who still have benefits pending are hopeful that with Mr. Sesay’s approach and tenacity on the job , they too will soon receive their’s.  He works the phones  as well as dispatch letters to the relevant authorities in Freetown to ensure eventual release of workers’ benefits and emoluments.

One very conspicuous achievement  by Mr. Sesay since he came to New York has been  employees’ insurance benefits.  Mr. Sesay has ensured that employees at the Mission are assured of uninterrupted and stable  insurance benefits. While the government ensures that all diplomatic and local staff enjoy insurance benefits, there are glitches at times from the companies providing the insurance when certain conditions are not met by ministries . This is where Mr. Sesay is very efficient. He second-guesses  problems and,  even where problems arrive when they should,  Mr.Sesay knows the right buttons to push and the right measures to take to make sure that deadlines for premiums, for instance,  are met by the line ministry in Freetown to forestall  any interruption to services from insurance companies.

Even administration is an art and it takes an efficient administrator to make sure that the appropriate paper work is filed at the stipulated time and the right administrative action is taken to make sure that things work effectively. When you have a lazy and indifferent HOC , paper work piles up and the right communication is not made on behalf of employees, causing unnecessary delays to their benefits and entitlements as well as the operation of the embassy or mission.

According to a diplomat attached to the Mission who wants to remain anonymous because of his status as a civil servant , Mr. Alhusine Sesay has an impressive record for seeking the welfare of both the diplomatic and the local staff. The diplomat said that Mr. Sesay did the same when he served in the same capacity at the Sierra Leone Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, from where he was transferred in 2008 to become the State Chief of Protocol ( SCOPE ) at State House.

According to reports from Freetown, Mr. Sesay , who is presently on his annual vacation in Sierra Leone, has used his leave to run after pertinent matters affecting the Mission. He has been able to seek  approval, for instance,  for the payment of the backlog of mortgage payments, thus making doubly sure  that the Government successfully secures its facilities and assets in New York.

The Government of Sierra Leone is diligent in meeting its commitments to its local and diplomatic staff in its various embassies and missions. Salaries, for instance, are paid on time. However , as should be expected , Ministries, Departments and Agencies , in the name of accountability and transparency , are wont to delay payments of certain benefits and emoluments where there is no diligent accountable officer abroad to expeditiously provide the necessary and required paperwork and persistence to keep administrators in the ministry on a specific task.

We live in a culture where we are at times unfortunate to see acts of  self-centredness , incompetence, lack of concern for the welfare of employees  and the expatiation of egoistic tendencies by some of the people  sent abroad to man our embassies and missions. At times, employees do not need to undergo some of the problems they encounter , especially when Government has played its own part,  but where there is a  lazy and uncommitted mission head ,  unnecessary delays and glitches in implementation and execution of government mandates and responsibilities  occur and  these bring unnecessary and undeserved blame on government. This is why the Alhusine Sesays who make the system work effectively  and cause workers  to be happy deserve to be commended.

When President Ernest Koroma sends diplomats abroad to represent the country, he desires that they perform well and not only execute their duties efficiently but that they also become  problem-solvers. Mr. Sesay is one such diplomat abroad .  Those  diplomats that meet H.E’s and the Foreign Ministry’s benchmarks deserve to be praised by the media and so today we feature Mr. Alhusine Sesay, who is an asset to the nation.

THE SERIES ON OUR HARDWORKING DIPLOMATS CONTINUE NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL FEATURE THE PEOPLE’S AMBASSADOR, H.E. BOCKARIE KORTU STEVENS.

THE NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE AFRICAN UNION , AMBASSADOR OSMAN KEH-KAMARA AND THE NEW DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY, AMBASSADOR ANDREW GBEBAY BANGALI WILL ALSO BE FEATURED IN THE SERIES.