Some government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have often been in the news for all the bad reasons, one of which being their tendency to snub directives made by the Office of the Ombudsman. But, as PEMPHERO MALIMBA writes, there are times when the MDAs have valid reasons for not playing ball.
Government officials have given their side of the story on why they sometimes delay to follow through determinations made by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Office of the Ombudsman is mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi (Section 123), “To investigate any and all cases where it is alleged that the person has suffered injustice and it does not appear that there is any remedy reasonably available by way of proceedings in a court or there is no other practicable remedy”.
Officials from ministries of Natural Resources and Climate Change and Transport and Public Works have acknowledged that they have been failing to comply with determinations made by the Office of the Ombudsman.
They have, however, cited the issue of missing files for some employees as a major factor that contributes to their failure to respond to the queries in time.
The officials said this in Lilongwe, where they appeared before the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament at various points this week.
Committee members summoned the officials after observing that the two ministries were yet to pay off dues of some employees, even after the Ombudsman made determinations on the same.
For example, little has happened after the Ombudsman made 18 determinations on cases that were reported by Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change employees.
The cases were premised on the issue of salary arrears.
Ministry of Natural Resources and Public Works Principal Secretary for Administration Richard Perekamoyo said they were taking their time to process the dues as some employees’ files were missing.
“Most of the time, we fail to pay off the dues because some files go missing. Right now, we have directed our officials to look for the files so that we should help the employees accordingly,” Perekamoyo said.
Ministry of Transport and Public Works Principal Secretary for Administration Madalo Nyambose said they were being forced to rebuild files to fast-track payment processes.
“There are usually problems we also face. In some cases, we have to rebuild the files of individuals and it is not like the whole process is complete within ourselves. We also rely on other institutions like the Auditor General, DHRMD (Department of Human Resources and Management Development) and the Accountant General to undertake certain functions,” Nyambose said.
She, however, said the ministry was committed to addressing grievances of employees at ministerial level.
Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament Chairperson Peter Dimba specifically gave the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change 30 days to facilitate compliance with the Ombudsman’s determinations.
“We want them to use the 30 days to find the missing files and if they will not find the files, they should refer the case files to the Office of the Ombudsman. Most of the complainants are poor people and, as such, we would like to see them getting their dues,” Dimba said.
On her part, Ombudsman Grace Malera stressed the need for more awareness on the mandate of her office.
“There is a need for more MDAs to understand the mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman and, once that is done, people will know about the role of the Ombudsman and they will be more inclined to implement directives that come from the Ombudsman,” Malera said.
In its 2023 annual report, the Office of the Ombudsman revealed that 38 determinations out of 44 determinations were not complied with by government institutions.
Only three were complied with while three.
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