Back-
After the interface with the committee, Ombudsman Malera also interacted with the Media
The Office of the Ombudsman in Malawi has released its 2022 annual report highlighting some of the successes registered in the year under review and prospects for 2023. Ombudsman Grace Malera presented the report before the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, July 4 2023.
Some of the highlights of the report are, that in 2022 the office handled 1,947 one-off complaints and held 54 public inquiries which saw 11 determinations being issued.
Member of the Committee Bright Msaka (SC), a Lawyer by profession hailed the Ombudsman for the determinations, saying the record surpasses some High Court Judges who go for years without releasing a single judgement. He, however, challenged the Honorable Ombudsman to aim at beating the record in 2023 and years to come.
In response, Ombudsman Malera said she and her officers are committed to ensuring timely resolution of cases.
“As an Office and me as the Ombudsman the aim to assist as many Malawians as possible within reasonable time. I am glad to report that in the first half of 2023 we have already released about 30 determinations, need I say that some many more cases are being resolved at investigation stage,” she said.
Malera told the committee that her office is committed to harness the gains registered in the year under review, as it strives to attain its strategic goals in 2023. The Ombudsman asked the committee to continuously help her office engage government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to be responsive to correspondences from her office and comply with the determinations.
She also lobbied for additional funding to the office, to clear the backlog of cases.
“There has been a huge deal of improvement in terms of cases that we carry over from previous years, but there are still some gaps that we need to work on so that we celar the backlog and at the same time work on the new cases being reported. We are calling for increased funding and may be a special fund that is going to enable us to clear the cases,” the honorable Ombudsman explained.
After the interface with the committee, Ombudsman Malera also interacted with the Media.
The Ombudsman has an obligation to lay before the National Assembly Annual Reports in respect of the Office’s work according to Section 127 of the Constitution and Section 9 (2) of the Ombudsman Act (Chapter 3:07 of the Laws of Malawi).
Source: The Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Malawi
