15 Mar 2017

The Member of Parliament for Shoshong Mr Dikgang Makgalemele said consultation between the president and Leader of the Opposition over the appointment of the Ombudsman was done according to the law.  

Debating the 2017/18 financial year budget proposals for the Office of the Ombudsman in Parliament on Tuesday, MP Makgalemele said the law does not specifically state how consultation has to be done, but it was done as the president informed the Leader of the Opposition about the newly appointed Ombudsman.

He said the Ombudsman has effectively played his role and produced reports which unfortunately were never debated by MPs.

MP Makgalemele said the onus was on MPs to act on the reports whenever they are presented in Parliament.

He said he welcomes the amendment of the Ombudsman Act to include the Human Rights aspects and called upon the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration to ensure the capable people are appointed.

MP Makgalemele said Botswana should learn from international best practice where there are different Ombudsman for different sectors such as the Press Ombudsman unlike locally where there is only one for everything.

Earlier in his debate, the Leader of the Opposition and Gaborone Bonnington North MP Duma Boko said he was not pleased with the manner in which he was consulted over the appointment of the Ombudsman.

He said he received a letter from the president informing him about the appointed candidate, without explanation on how he was appointed and if there were any other competing candidates.

MP Boko said the Act that established the Ombudsman has created an ineffective organization and Parliament has ignored the recommendations as presented by the first Ombudsman.

He said as such there were flaws in the processes such as in the appointment of the Ombudsman.

Talking about the amendment of the Act, he said there should be a Human Rights Commission headed by someone at e level of a Judge.

He said the Ombudsman has not been able to perform its duties but now given additional work in the form of human rights.

MP Boko further called upon the office to be given more powers saying in other countries the Press Ombudsman can prosecute.

For his part, Gaborone Central MP Dr Phenyo Butale said the Ombudsman has been irrelevant and toothless as government officials have failed to comply with its requests.

He said there have been numerous recommendations to establish the Ombudsman as an independent organization but these have been ignored. Gabane-Mmankgodi MP Pius Mokgware said the Ombudsman played a major role as it showed the government where it needed to improve.

He however said the P29 million allocated to it for the next financial year was insufficient and said the funds should be increased and employ more people to carry out investigations when cases are reported to them.

MP Mokgware said he was also concerned that during the 26/17 financial year, the Ombudsman only addressed six schools about its mandate saying it was not enough.

He also called upon the minister to ensure the powers of the Ombudsman are strengthened and said another office should be opened in Ghanzi. ENDS