By Adama Makasuba
Lawmakers today unanimously rejected the appointment of Babucarr Suwaneh as the country’s new ombudsman, after weeks of scrutiny.
Babucarr Suwaneh’s appointment by President Barrow was recently tabled before lawmakers for confirmation and approval. The lawmakers however held back the 65-year-old’s tapping, and referred it to the public appointments committee for scrutiny.
Today’s move has been categorised as the first of its kind in history that the National Assembly has turned down an appointment of an ombudsman.
However, Vice President Dr Isatou Touray expressed disappointment on Friday after the lawmakers voted against Suwaneh’s appointment, saying “we should not be judgmental, we should look at the issue at hand, look at your remit in terms of what needs to be done as a committee and deliberate on that.”
“If we get out of the judgmental dimension, we will all understand that Babucarr Suwaneh has all the credentials that are necessary for him to be considered… given that fact that the responsibility and the functions of the ombudsman goes beyond what some of us are thinking,” she added.
She urged the lawmakers to put aside their political interests and put ‘national issues’ forward anytime they arise.
