Africa-Press – Seychelles. After seven years in office, the Ombudsman of Seychelles, Nichole Tirant-Gherardi, will end her mandate at the end of May.
Prior to her appointment as the Ombudsman, she served as the chief editor for the Today in Seychelles newspaper and was also the secretary general of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) from 1999 to 20101. She is a barrister and attorney-at-law with a diverse experience and background.
As she comes to the end of her term as Ombudsman, despite the challenges, Tirant-Gherardi told SNA she can count many accomplishments during her tenure.
SNA: You are leaving your position as Ombudsman, after seven years, how does that feel?
NTG: The mandate of an Ombudsman is quite long, it is for seven years. I am now past retirement age, and I don’t think I can continue giving the same amount of energy to the job for another seven years. So, I do not want to start something that I will have to quit after two years. Plus, I think it’s time for somebody else to come in, with new ideas and bring this work further.
SNA: Tell us about your achievements and challenges as Ombudsman.
NTG: What I have done before my departure is to create what I have called a handover report, which I have given a copy to the Constitutional Appointees Authority (CAA). This will help prepare questions for the interviews with my potential successor. I also wish that the report can be published, as I spoke about my work for the past seven years.
I also believe that I have improved this institution during my time. This is a very important institution and unfortunately, I think that it has fallen by the wayside. I have gone overseas and also worked a lot locally, to give it the visibility it deserves. There needs to be a lot of education to ensure people understand the role of the Ombudsman and other government institutions, but that is not something I can do on my own.
SNA: Have you made any changes to the office itself?
NGT: Yes. I have changed a lot in the Office of the Ombudsman and I feel it will make it easier for whoever comes after me to settle into the job, and look to continue what I started and even improve upon it. We have put a lot of procedures in place concerning how we process reports and how we deal with them.
We have also worked to give the office more visibility and for that, I want to thank the media for coming to us and giving us a space to share what we do with the public. I have noticed that every time we appear on the local media, the number of cases we receive go up.
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