Order granted against Lelang’s reinstatement

By JACOB POK
A JOB in the public ser­vice does not belong to anyone for life, a National and Supreme Court judge said yesterday.
Granting a stay order against the reinstatement of National Planning and Monitoring secretary Joseph Lelang, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom said under the existing constitutional framework of democracy and the Westminster model, “all offices, especially those in the public service belong to the people of this country”.
His ruling effectively means that Lelang will have to stay out of office pending the substantive hearing of the matter.
Presiding as a single Supreme Court judge, Kirriwom ruled in favour of Public Service Minister Moses Maladina, who had asked the higher court to stay the national court order of May 31 which had reinstated Lelang to his position.
Lelang was suspended from office by the National Executive Council on February 9 for disciplinary reasons.
During Lelang’s suspension, the NEC appointed Ruby Zarriga as acting secretary of the department.
But Lelang challenged the suspension in court and was reinstated to the position on May 31.
Maladina returned to court with the argument that Lelang had pending disciplinary matters which needed to be looked into and that his reinstatement was not in the interest of good governance.
Lelang’s lawyer Philemon Korowi said to allow Zarriga to continue to act as secretary “already elevates or consolidates her position or chances of being confirmed to the job when the National Court had already ordered for Lelang’s reinstatement”.
Justice Kirriwom said it was an immature argument.
“If this is the motivation that is driving the respondent (Lelang) to fight this case tooth and nail, he should go back to the basics and understand who the public service and the department stands for,” he said.
He said those who held positions of authority in the public service were not indispensable as they held offices at the discretion of the relevant government authority that represented the people.
Justice Kirriwom ac­cepted that Maladina, as being a duly elected MP and the Minister for Public Service, had the prerogative of appointing departmental heads.
He granted the stay order.