Ombudsman takes bold step, subpoenas ministries
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday March 16, 2026 06:00
The Office of the Ombudsman has often received flak for being toothless, with their attempts to resolve cases being frustrated by uncooperative government departments as well as a shortage of investigators. It has been revealed that some ministries and departments often ignore communication from the Office of the Ombudsman, while others choose to delay their communications without any valid reasons.
When presenting the office's budget estimates for the 2026/27 financial year before the Committee of Supply, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Nelson Maotwana, said that while the Office of the Ombudsman continues to improve its case resolution rate, the desired level has not been attained.
Ramaotwana said the office has resolved 885 cases out of 2167 for the financial year 2025/2026, representing an overall resolution rate of 40.8% as compared to 40.2% of the previous year.
'Contributing factors to non-attainment of the desired result include issues of non-response and or delayed response by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and in many instances, investigation of cases would be complete, but delayed or non-implementation of corrective action stalls closure of cases,' Ramaotwana said.
To resolve these issues, Ramaotwana said the office will invoke its power to subpoena those complained against to appear. Additionally, he said there is a deliberate intent to address all Heads of Department on principles of good public administration, best administrative practices and compliance with the Human Rights norms and standards, and to monitor their compliance.
'To address the delays caused by non-responsiveness, it is essential to encourage departments to establish clearer communication protocols and timelines for responses to Ombudsman,' the minister added.
The office of the Ombudsman is charged with promoting administrative justice by investigating allegations of maladministration within the public sector. As a dispute resolution mechanism alternative to the courts, the office discharges its mandate by investigating complaints of improper administrative conduct and recommending remedial actions where, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, the complainant has suffered injustice arising from the administrative conduct.
Another factor contributing to the delay is said to be a shortage of investigators, with the office currently operating with 38 legal investigators to deliver on the core mandate.
'This poses a challenge of delivery as the mandate has expanded, not only in the area of investigation, but because, in addition thereto, the Ombudsman is bestowed with other functions. These functions include but are not limited to, educating the public on maladministration and human rights, advising government on ratification and implementation of human rights treaties and conventions, assisting government to monitor, address and report on human rights issues at national and international level,' he explained.
Further, Ramaotwana said the office of the Ombudsman is enjoined to collaborate with civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, regional and international organisations in promoting human rights and research thereon.
'For the office to effectively discharge these additional statutory functions, it requires more manpower and financial resources. For the year at issue, there was no provision, in particular, for public education. Effective investigations often require on-site inspections, particularly in complex cases or remote circumstances requiring specialised equipment. However, budgetary constraints have limited the ability to conduct these investigations effectively,' he said.
The minister said capacity-building initiatives for investigators have been affected by limited funding and the various moratoria on spending. He said for the financial year 2025/2026, the office had planned to train investigators to capacitate them to deliver on functions bestowed by the Act, but this was not carried out due to the financial challenges.
Meanwhile, Ramaotwana requested the committee to approve P67,420,660 as the recurrent budget for the office. This represents an increase of only 1.256% over the 2025/2026 provision to cater for the resourcing of the new mandate of Human Rights.
He also presented a budget proposal of P10,500,000 for the financial year 2026/2027 under the Development Budget, to cover the completion of the Maun office project, Maun staff housing design and refurbishment of Francistown staff housing apartments.