By Mariam Williams
The Director General of the Food Safety and Quality Assurance Authority (FSQA) has said a panel of investigators has found allegations of “corruption” brought against her by staff to be “false”.
“These allegations have been circulating for some time now, and an independent panel [of investigators] established that all the allegations contained in the petition are false,” Zainab Jallow told Mansa Banko Online by phone on Wednesday.
“…as such, actions will be taken against all the people who are behind it [the allegations],” she said.
In October 2019, staff of FSQA petitioned Jallow through the Office of the Vice President calling for her removal. Thirty-two of fifty-three staff of the Authority has since signed that petition which includes allegations of “nepotism” and “abuse of office”.
A food safety inspector told a press conference on Wednesday that they are worried about the “bad leadership” practices at the Authority.
“…we are concerned about the ‘bad leadership’ of the current director general and thus wish to bring forward the constant difficulties we face working under ‘an extreme toxic’ work environment,” Alhagie Sowe, a Food Inspector at FSQA, said on January 15 at the FSQA head office in Kotu.
Unauthorized per diem
A leaked report purportedly of the panel that investigated the allegations against Jallow has corroborated some of the claims by staff of the FSQA, while finding no evidence on some of the other allegations.
Mansa Banko Online have seen a copy of the leaked report but could not independently verify its authenticity.
The report stated that “there is no evidence that the DG [director general] travels at least twice a month, and that “the DG was given clearance for her travels, contrary to the allegation.”
It also stated that “there is no evidence that some of the DG’s travels were meant for the junior staff, as alleged by the petitioners.”
The report revealed that the [investigating] Committee found that the DG was granted clearance to be paid 10 days per diem to attend a WTO-SPS [World Trade Organisation – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures] and the Codex Alimentarius Commission meetings in July 2017.
“However, DG was paid 15 days per diem instead. This implies that DG was paid an extra 5 days without authorization,” the report stated.
“For this same trip, DG claimed to have bought an air ticket for herself and then requested to be refunded by FSQA an amount of D168, 800. However, there is no evidence that DG bought the ticket.
“The Committee also requested the invitation for the aforementioned meetings to confirm if the trip was actually at cost to Government or not but this could not be provided by the DG.”
Nepotism claims
According to the report, the investigating Committee “could not find any evidence of family members or close associates being appointed by the DG”, and that “there was also no evidence that any Board member was handpicked by the DG.”
It however stated that “the investigation also revealed that there is no scheme of service to guide recruitment, training and promotion” at FSQA.
While Saidina Alieu Jarju, an Admin and Human Resources Officer at FSQA, said that the staff do not have laptops or computers to work with, the leaked report have recommended that “staff must be given tools to work [with] as soon as possible.”
The investigations could not however establish whether or not the FSQA director general borrowed up to D40, 000 from the FSQA finance department and failed to refund the money.
The report also recommended that “none of the petitioners should be punished or disadvantaged for signing a petition.” FSQA
