MDAs summoned for defying Ombudsman
The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament has summoned government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that have not complied with the determinations of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Committee vice-chairperson Yusuf Nthenda said this at Parliament Building in Lilongwe yesterday after Ombudsman Grace Malera presented her office’s annual report to Parliament.
“If you [the Office of the Ombudsman] don’t have the teeth, we have the teeth to bite them,” he said.
The hearings come in the wake of revelations in the Office of the Ombudsman’s 2023 report that 86 percent of its determinations are not complied with.
Said Nthenda: “We are very committed to ensuring that these MDAs are questioned as to why they are not complying to your determinations.
“This will also send a message to other MDAs that are not doing what they are supposed to be doing under the law.”
The summoned institutions include ministries of Agriculture, Transport, Health and Natural Resources, according to Malera.
She expressed optimism that the hearings will solve the puzzle as to what befalls institutions that defy the determinations.
Said Malera: “People ask when the institutions do not comply with the Ombudsman’s determinations then what next.
“That question will be answered in the next few days and we will be able to follow up to ensure that the increase in compliance rate continues to progress.”
In its 2023 annual report, the office said it undertook 46 inquiries which yielded 44 determinations, representing a 300 percent increase from the previous reporting period.
Reads the report: “Out of the 44 determinations, three determinations were complied with, three were dismissed during the inquiry and 38 determinations were not complied with, representing 6.8 percent, 6.8 percent and 86.4 percent, respectively.”
The report further shows that the Malawi Police Service topped the list of respondent institutions which had complaints lodged against it.
The Police had 22 complaints against it followed by the Ministry of Education with 17, the Judiciary with 13, the Ministry of Health with 10, the Accountant General’s Department with nine nine and the Malawi Legal Aid Bureau with eight.
