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Ombudsman Malera with staff outside of the Parliament
The Office of the Ombudsman (OoO) in Malawi earlier this week appeared before the Public Appointments Committee (PAC) of Parliament, where Ombudsman Grace Tikambenji Malera spelled out some of the financial challenges that her office is facing.
Speaking when she presented the 2024/2025 budget performance of the Office, honorable Malera said she has a motivated team of officers, whose work is continually affected by lack of resources.
In 2024 for instance, Malera said the OoO strived to meet most of its Key Performance Indicators even though it did not receive funding for the months of September, November and December, 2024.
This she said affected operations of the Office, with outstanding utility bills and motor vehicle servicing and maintenance among others.
Some activities were also suspended due to funding constraints.
“You will notice honorable Chairperson for instance that we had planned to conduct public inquires and release 50 determinations in the year gone by, but only 31 determinations were issued. This is because as an office we did not have resources to meet the target,” Malera explained.
The honorable Ombudsman disclosed that in 2022 the government of Malawi gave authority to the OoO to establish district offices in Karonga, Nkhotakota, Mangochi and Nsanje but this is yet to happen owing to funding challenges.
She decried that the development is depriving communities in the said districts from accessing Ombudsman services which are are at the core of upholding people’s rights when accessing public services.
Chairperson of the Committee Grant Ndecha said they will be engaging government through the Accountant General and Treasury in order to find lasting solution to the funding challenges.
“It is sad to learn that the Office of the Ombudsman did not receive funding for three months in the past year. Government has an obligation to ensure seamless funding to such an important institution, going forward I implore on the honorable Ombudsman to always engage this committee whenever such things happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PAC proposed a tripartite meeting with the Accountant General and Treasury to map the forward to ending the funding problems being experienced by the OoO.
Chairperson said the Office of the Ombudsman has a crucial role in ensuring people’s access to justice.
In 2024, the Office handled 3703 cases out of which 1971 were from the previous year, 1462 complaints were received through mobile Accountability Clinics and 270 complaints were registered and files were opened through the offices across the country.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Malawi
