16 Mar 2026

The Office of the Ombudsman continues to improve its case resolution rate, although it has not attained the desired level. 

Presenting the Ombudsman’s budget proposals of over P77 million for the 2026/27 financial year, Assistant Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Augustine Nyatanga told Parliament that the office received 1 341 cases during 2025/26, out of which 954 or 71 per cent were resolved. 

“Contributing factors to non-attainment of the desired result include issues of non-response and or delayed response by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and in many instances investigation of cases would be complete, but delayed or non-implementation of corrective action stalls closure of cases,” he said.

However, Mr Nyatanga said as at January this year, there was a cumulative backlog of 669 complaints brought from previous years and resolved outside the standard of five months as compared to 979 for the previous year. He added that 18.6 per cent of recommendations by the Ombudsman to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) for financial year 2025/26 were implemented as at the end of January this year. 

He added that the 38 legal investigators posed a challenge of delivery as the mandate had expanded, not only in the area of investigation, but because in addition thereto, the Ombudsman was bestowed with other functions. 

“These functions include but are not limited to, educating the public on maladministration and human rights, advising government on ratification and implementation of human rights treaties and conventions, assisting government to monitor, address and report on human rights issues at national and international level,” he said. 

He further said the Office of the Ombudsman needed more manpower and financial resources to effectively deliver on its mandate. He said effective investigations often required onsite inspections, particularly in complex cases or remote circumstances requiring specialised equipment. 

“However, budgetary constraints have limited the ability to conduct these investigations effectively,” he said. 

Mr Nyatanga said capacity building initiatives for investigators had been affected by limited funding and the various moratoria on spending. He said the office of the Ombudsman had resorted to using the power of subpoena to compel attendance. 

“Additionally, there is a deliberate intent to address all Heads of Department on principles of good public administration, best administrative practices and compliance with the Human rights norms and standards and to monitor their compliance,” he said.

 Talking about human rights, Mr Nyatanga said the office had commenced engagement with the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education to assess the status of human rights education at the basic education level.

 “Human Rights Education and public outreach in general, are the proactive means of promoting respect for human rights and curtailment of maladministration,” he explained. 

Subsequently, Parliament approved over P77 million budget for the Office of the Ombudsman, comprising P67 million for recurrent expenditure and P10 million for development, to bolster the office’s expanding mandate in the 2026/27 financial year. BOPA