Ombudsman case resolution remains below 40%
Monday, March 11, 2024 | 300 Views |
Machana Shamukuni PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Justice minister, Machana Shamukuni, acknowledged a slight improvement in the case resolution rate but stressed the need for higher efficiency when presenting the 2024-2025 financial year budget estimates for the Office of the Ombudsman to the Committee of Supply in Parliament last week.
During the financial year 2023-2024, the Office of the Ombudsman registered 2,058 new complaints by January 2024, a significant increase from 695 in the previous year. He said out of this total, 395 complaints were resolved, marking a resolution rate of 38.46%, an improvement from the previous year's 31%.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...