A row within the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Country Planning in the southern region of Sierra Leone has led to the indefinite closure of its district office in Pujehun.
The row broke out after the Regional Director of the ministry ordered the transfer of the long-serving District Housing Officer, Joseph Kobie.
Mr Kobie was redeployed to the regional headquarters in Bo, from where his replacement, Richard Maada Magao, was transferred.
Kobie rejected the transfer order, claiming that the regional office has no authority to take such a decision.
A letter dated 24th May, 2022, a copy of which was seen by ManoReporters, confirmed the order of transfer. It’s copied to various senior officers in Freetown and Pujehun, including the Director of Housing at the Ministry in Freetown and the Provincial Secretary South.
While refusing to report to his new station, Kobie also denied his replacement access to the district office.
Magao told ManoReporters that he reported to take his office in Pujehun but was refused access, leaving him with no option but to return to Bo after four days.
Mr Kobie confirmed that he refused Magao access to the office because didn’t recognize the transfer order.
“The Regional office has no power to effect the transfer. I do not recognize Mr. Magao nor my transfer; thus the reason I denied him access to the Office in Pujehun”, Kobie said on Sunday on the phone from Freetown.
In the Sierra Leone civil service hierarchy, the district office serves as a representative office of the ministry, under the direct coordination of the regional office, which itself takes directives from the head office in Freetown.
In the Lands ministry, the district office consists of a lone staff – the district Housing Officer – who is tasked with conducting land surveys and issue out building permit, among other day to day activities. Kobie maintains three support staff.
But because of the standoff and his protracted stay in Freetown, the district office has been closed to the public for about two weeks now.
Amara Young Bockarie, the Regional Director, said the internal transfer was done in consultation with the Minister, stressing that the decision stands.
“The ministry does not recognize Mr. Kobie as the Officer in charge of Pujehun anymore. Mr. Magao is the new Housing Officer for Pujehun District,” Mr Bockarie said on a telephone interview from Bo, where he is based..
“Mr. Kobie doesn’t have any right to deny the newly transferred Housing Officer access to the office in Pujehun; the Regional office is waiting on a comprehensive report from the new Officer in charge for onwards conveyance to headquarters”, Bockarie added.
Kobie hails from a small village called Mandeima Kodogbe in Kpanga Chiefdom, Pujehun.
This is not the first time he has refused honoring a transfer order from Pujehun, where he has worked for the last ten years. He was once reportedly transferred to Kailahun and he didn’t go.
