07 Aug 2019

 Independence of ombudsman offices is paramount for negating views that the institutions were mere government lapdogs,  Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration minister Mr Nonofo Molefh has said.

Officiating at the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association Southern Africa regional meeting on August 6, he said independence and freedom from interference were some of the key tenets necessary for oversight institutions to effectively discharge their mandates.

In Botswana, he said, the ombudsman was guaranteed operational independence through legislation, in recognition of its role of bridging the gap between the governed and the governing by holding public administration to account for its decisions and actions.

Mr Molefhi further said it was the responsibility of governments  to support ombudsman offices financially and by availing human resources.

The minister said while the mandates of the institutions differed as in some jurisdictions they extended to anti-corruption and protection as well as promotion of human rights whereas in others it was limited to combating maladministration only,  corruption and maladministration were by nature related.

“They are inseparable bedfellows in that maladministration is the breeding ground for corruption and corruption itself is a form of gross maladministration. The two are cancerous tumors on the economy and governance of any nation,” he said.

The effects of corruption and maladministration, he said, were inexhaustible as they extended to poor service delivery and a general increase in poverty levels.

The two ills therefore needed to be fought tirelessly until they had no place in any economy, the minister said.

The association’s president and South Africa’s public protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane said the ombudsman, mediator or public protector as called in different countries, grappled with several issues among them independence and autonomy, security of tenure for heads of institutions, insufficient resources, impartiality as well as poor accessibility.

Adv. Mkhwebane said while some countries such as South Africa had made strides in addressing the issues, more could still be done.

She implored her colleagues not to lose hope on dreams of realisation of a better Africa.

“Perhaps in your respective countries you experience different challenges, which also serve to discourage you, leading to a situation where you ask yourself if it is still worth it to carry on with your work. For me, the vision of a prosperous Africa, free of poverty and conflict, is what gives me the energy to keep soldiering on even in the face of untold adversity,” she said.

The organisation’s secretary general and also Kenya ombudsman, Ms Florence Kajuju, said the regional meetings were critical to efforts to strengthen the association.

In addition, the meetings  provided a platform for members to explore ways of navigating common challenges and also mitigating emerging threats, she said.

Ms Kajuju noted that in Africa as well as in the region, the ombudsman faced a unique set of challenges for which members had to continually reposition and engage stakeholders in order to add value to the continent’s governance and renaissance.

She said the oversight institutions ought to find ways of being responsive in the ever-so-dynamic environment as they could not be relevant if they remained stagnant.

Botswana’s ombudsman and  southern Africa region coordinator, Mr Augustine Makgonatsotlhe said the association was established primarily to advance the development of ombudsman and mediators institutions in Africa.

The region comprises Botswana, Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

He said as coordinator, Botswana was responsible for coordinating the association’s  regional activities and to ensure that members prepared and submitted reports as well as to periodically hold regional meetings. ENDS