Mumtaz Hasan is the new Chief Information Officer within the Information Commission |13 November 2021
Ms Hasan receiving her Instrument of Appointment from President Ramkalawan (Photo: Joena Meme)
Seychellois Mumtaz Hasan received her Instrument of Appointment as the new Chief Information Officer within the Information Commission from President Wavel Ramkalawan yesterday at State House.
Ms Hasan replaces John Richardson who unfortunately passed away earlier in June. He had served as the chief commission officer since April 2019 until his passing.
Ms Hasan was chosen from candidates proposed by the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA) as prescribed under Section 37 (1) of the Access to Information Act.
The brief ceremony was attended by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, Vice-President Ahmed Afif, secretary of state for Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Afif, chairman of the Media Commission Ibrahim Afif, chief executive of the Information Commission Thereza Dogley, members of the CAA and Information Commissioners at the Information Commission.
President Ramkalawan congratulated Ms Hassan on her new post while also taking a moment to remember Mr Richardson who had served in the same capacity.
The president highlighted that the role of the information commission is particularly important in terms of good governance and accountability, and urged both the media and general public to make use of the commission and the Access to the Information Act to gain accurate information.
Ms Hasan said that it is a privilege and honour to be entrusted with the position, adding that she looks forward to supporting the mandate of the commission in supporting communities with accountability, transparency and good governance.
“I am also currently working on some projects in climate change and conservation. I have worked in the civil society sector for over 20 years in various capacities, from humanitarian natural disasters to food security projects to projects on gender to projects on access to information,” said Ms Hasan.
“At the moment my plan is to meet with the Information Commission team to find out what it is they have been working on, what their priorities are, what the gaps are and sit and discuss ways to forge ahead,” she further noted.
Ms Hasan has a Masters in Development Management and Practice from the Development Institute University, Bangladesh in collaboration with the University of Columbia, Earth Institute Programme of Jeffrey Sachs, USA.
She is a dynamic Seychellois professional with diverse life experiences in multi-cultural corporate and civil society agencies in leadership, advisory, technical and operational roles. She has had exposure to Western, Asian and small island developing states settings and is perceptive of the collective commonalities linking locals to global development issues.
Elsie Pointe
