10 May 2022

The Ombudsman's office is facing challenges of delayed response and no-response by ministries and departments, it has emerged.

  Acting ombudsman, Ms Dudu Leinaeng said at the commencement of the 59th Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting yesterday that in some cases, the office was forced to subpoena ministries in order to address delays and non-responsiveness.

  She stated that the challenges had persisted over the years. 

 “It is unfortunate because we are an office that is supposed to execute its mandate swiftly and deliver justice whilst it is still fresh,” said Ms Leinaeng adding that maladministration was a mindset issue that needed to be changed.

  She said her office had continued to engage departments and ministries to educate them on the  importance of responding promptly while seminars had also been held to equip stakeholders.

In efforts to ensure  delivery of the organisation’s mandate, she said, benchmarking missions had been undertaken in other Southern African jurisdictions.

“There is no school of Ombudsman practitioner anywhere in the world, as it is a specialised type of investigation,” said Ms Leinaeng.

She said the organisation needed experts in order to effectively and efficiently investigate maladministration and that benchmarking assisted in that regard. 

In addition, she said her office had adopted some resolutions to address delays and non-responsiveness.

During the year under review, Ms Leinaeng said the organisation received a total of 666 cases with 66 of them registered in the newly-established Tsabong office. 

However, she said the Tsabong office registered a low number of cases attributable to poor public education on the Ombudsman’s mandate. 

Ms Leinaeng informed the PAC that her office was undergoing restructuring following the 2021 Ombudsman Bill passed by Parliament. She explained that the bill broadened the Ombudsman’s mandate to cover human rights issues.

Responding to a question from PAC chairperson, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, Ms Leinaeng said following the ascent of the bill, a team had been established between the Ombudsman’s office and Directorate of Public Service Management.

She her office’s staff establishment stood at 103, including 20 investigators adding that more were needed.    

“We cannot absorb the human rights mandate without increasing our investigators or personnel related to that field,” she sated.She however said the Ministry of Finance had allocated funds towards new positions. 

Still during the period under review,  her office resolved 46 per cent of cases received against a 75 per cent target due to shortage of staff. 

MP for Jwaneng/Mabule, Mr Mephato Reatile urged the Ombudsman’s office to issue more subpoenas to ministries and departments.

There should be no leniency if there was to be efficiency in the execution of the organisation’s mandate, argued Mr Reatile. BOPA