Ombudsman office falls vacant as Chizumila retires
The office of the public protector, the Ombudsman, is vacant after Tijumile Chizumila’s contract expired and she has already left the office after hinting at not wishing to renew her contract, Nation on Sunday can reveal.
The situation means that no case can be completed without the Ombudsman in the office as he or she determines the closure of cases that are brought to the office.
This has also brought some fears that some cases will take too long to be completed just like it happened before Chizumila took the office.
It took about 15 months for Chizumila to take the office after former ombudsman Enock Chibwana retired in 2009.
Office of the Ombudsman’s spokesperson, Arthur Semba, confirmed in an interview that Chizumila has left upon expiry of her five-year contract.
“I can confirm that she had already left the office as of June 30 2015. She has indicated her wish not to continue with another term,” said Semba.
He said the process of replacing Chizumila has not yet started, but asked Nation on Sunday to verify this with Parliament, which is mandated by the Constitution to employ the office bearer.
“It is our hope that the appointment of a new ombudsman is going to be quicker so that we should not experience the same problems the office encountered before the outgoing ombudsman took office,” added Semba.
Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye was yet to respond to inquiries on the matter as we attempted to verify whether National Assembly has started the process to recruit Chizumila’s successor.
Chizumila, who replaced Chibwana, is credited for expanding and decentralising the office by establishing offices in the Central and Eastern regions.
She leaves the office after her five-year tenure as it struggles—as many other similar constitutional bodies—to effectively function due to underfunding from Central Government.
