By Francis Kamara
It has indeed pleased the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio to appoint Honorable Member of constituency 013, who also used to operate as the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Parliament Hon. Alusine Kanneh as the new Chief Immigration Officer.
Hon. Alusine Kanneh has received positive feedback from the Sierra Leonean population, due to his diligence, hard work and determination. Responding to the call from his party, Alusine Kanneh left his comfort zone in Norway and came to Sierra Leone to represent his people of constituency 013 during the Ernest Bai Koroma administration, and has worked effectively in serving the people of Sierra Leone.
Reducing corruption has been one major challenge facing government and policy makers in Sierra Leone. Exposing corruption and holding the corrupt to account can only happen if we understand the way corruption works, the systems that enable it and put the right people in charge.
The Sierra Leone Immigration Department is the government institution that is charged with the responsibility of regulating immigration into Sierra Leone as well issuance of passports and other travel documents, visas, resident permits and regulates the movement of people in and out of the country.
In previous years, there has been lack of efficiency, transparency and professionalism shown by staff and the department itself. Reports also emerged that the Immigration department was selling official Sierra Leonean passports to foreign nationals without proper screening or verification which is not only illegal, but posed a great deal of threat as criminals could obtain our passport and use it to wreak havoc in other countries.
