Ombudsman urges action on Khama

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Thursday April 16, 2009 00:00

 

The Ombudsman says that Parliament has never debated any of his reports since his office was established. In his current annual report, the Ombudsman, Ofentse Lepodisi says that it is important that Parliament acts on his recommendations to help allay fears that his office is a toothless bulldog. He suggests that perhaps a Parliamentary Select Committee for the Ombudsman should be created to deal specifically with reports and recommendations from his office. He says such a committee will provide a watchdog role on the performance of the Ombudsman. 'Such performance would be reviewed from time to time as it may be necessary to ensure that the citizenry gets good value for the money spent to fund the institution,' he says.

In a past report, the Ombudsman faulted Khama for piloting military aircraft after he retired as a soldier. At the time, President Festus Mogae defended the decision to let his deputy pilot the aircrafts, citing presidential powers. 

The Ombudsman is an oversight body, whose major task is to investigate administrative action undertaken by the executive. 'All these virtues may be compromised when the executive stands against a review capacity over the Ombudsman. Members of the public would then lose confidence over the Ombudsman as an independent oversight entity capable of making impartial and fair independent conclusions on matters brought to it,' he says in the current report.