By Pemphero Malimba
Some government ministries and departments have defied the 30-day ultimatum which the Legal Affairs Committee (Lac) of Parliament issued to facilitate compliance with determinations made by the Office of the Ombudsman, The Daily Times has learned.
According to Office of the Ombudsman spokesperson Mandy Pondani, minimal progress had been registered.
She cited the Ministry of Education, saying out of 25 cases that were reported to Parliament, the ministry had only provided responses on two cases.
Pondani added that the Ministry of Health was yet to provide feedback on how it was progressing in implementing directives on its remaining two determinations.
The spokesperson further said the Ministry of Natural Resources was yet to comply with 18 determinations made to the ministry.
“[The Ministry of] Natural Resources has not complied fully but there is a positive response from them. They show commitment,” Pondani said.
She said the Office of the Ombudsman would continue to engage the ministries to ensure compliance with determinations.
“Following the meetings with Parliament, the Office of the Ombudsman is making arrangements to engage with all these concerned offices in a joint meeting to discuss the challenges and adopt measures for redress,” she said.
Last week, Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change Principal Secretary Yusuf Mkungula told The Daily Times that the ministry had complied with the determinations.
“I can confirm today [Wednesday] that we have complied with the complaints and have prepared all the files for the 18 complaints and my confirmation is that these people will be able to receive their funds very soon,” Mkungula said.
Commenting on the development, Lac Chairperson Peter Dimba expressed the committee’s commitment to ensuring that the ministries comply with the determinations.
“We will make a follow-up on the issue,” Dimba said.
Meanwhile, good governance analyst George Chaima has expressed concern over ministries’ determinations non-compliance rate.
“The issue of incompetence and inefficiency is what makes the civil service non-productive. No wonder, our country is failing to develop due to lack of dedication and commitment by civil servants.
“There is no way a serious employee can open a file and lose track of it. Unfortunately, this is the case with almost all government departments,” Chaima said.
In a 2023 annual report, the Office of the Ombudsman revealed that some of its determinations were not being complied with by some government institutions.
The determinations included recommendations to pay employees who lamented delays to get salary arrears, among other grievances.
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