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.
Mmegi
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