13 Mar 2016

Some Members of Parliament have called on government to give the Office of the Ombudsman more powers than it currently has for better service delivery in the public service.

Supporting the office’s 2016/17 budget proposals, they argued that the Office of the Ombudsman had restricted powers yet it was an important office that could help improve service delivery in the public service.

Tati East MP, Mr Samson Guma said currently the office was underutilised because of the Ombudsman’s restricted powers, in particular, he pointed out that the office did not enjoy public support because of the way it was currently working.

He cited countries such as Sweden saying such a department was highly respected, and that the decision of the Ombudsman carried the same weight as that of a high court judge because it too could issue a warrant of arrest to non-compliant officers.

Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi shared the sentiments saying the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman was a good idea from which Batswana expected a lot and were happy that they now had somewhere they could take up their grievances against government departments.

Therefore, Mr Mmolotsi appealed to the responsible minister to bring to Parliament a Bill that would seek to help give the Office of the Ombudsman more powers so that it could diligently deliver on its mandate and serve the interests of Batswana.

He also said the department needed to be more resourced for better execution of its mandate; hence he supported the budget proposals.

Tati West MP, Mr Biggie Butale added his voice saying it was an important office in the administrative structure of the government of Botswana and that it could help improve service delivery in the public service.

He felt that its status should be enhanced and that one way to do it could be when the Ombudsman started to report directly to the President, and not through a ministry.

Mr Butale said reporting through a ministry would mean that the Ombudsman was subordinate to that ministry yet the office is supposed to have an oversight responsibility of all government ministries; as such, he wondered how one could investigate their own boss. BOPA