Civil society organisations (CSOs) have commended the Office of the Ombudsman for instituting a systemic investigation into passport issuance delays and allegations of unethical conduct at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
In separate interviews on Tuesday, executive directors of Centre for Development and Economic Initiatives (Cdedi) and Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (Csat) described the inquiry as a proactive step toward restoring public trust within the Immigration Department.
In its inquiry, the Office of the Ombudsman seeks to address structural, procedural and systemic issues in relation to the delivery of services to drive wider structural changes.
On July 26 the office published a call for submissions signed by Ombudsman Grace Malera to undertake the probe against the background of growing concerns on challenges that people face when seeking immigration services.
The concerns include delay in processing and issuance of passports to applicants, allegations of bribery involving some immigration officers and issuance of diplomatic passports to ineligible individuals.
Csat executive director Willy Kambwandira said the expectation is that the probe will go beyond surface level issues and uncover structural flaws in processes at the immigration.
“The investigations must be paired with internal reforms and effective enforcement,” he said.
On his part, Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa said the probe was long overdue.
He said his organisation will respond to the Ombudsman’s call for information from the general public.
