Prime Minister Warns Against Inefficiency In Service Delivery, As Uganda Commemorates Ombuds Day
Oct. 13, 2023
The Inspectorate of Government (IG) joined the rest of the world on October 12, 2023 to commemorate the Ombuds Day for 2023.
The commemoration is meant to enhance the public awareness about the ombudsman function of the IG. Ombuds Day is commemorated on the second Thursday of October every year.
In Uganda, the day was commemorated under the theme, “Raising Citizens’ awareness of the Ombuds role for better service delivery”.
As part of the activities to commemorate the Ombuds Day, the IG held a half-day dialogue with various heads of public institutions to remind them of their role of ensuring efficient service delivery to the public.
Similarly, boardroom sessions were held across all the 16 IG regional offices in the country with an aim of enhancing awareness about the IG’s ombudsman function.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, who was also the Chief Guest, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja thanked the IG for its effort in the promotion of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
The Premier noted that the government has heavily invested in the public service with an aim of improving the livelihoods of the citizens.
She said it would be unfair for the public officers to deny the citizens their right to better services. “Why would you want the citizens to beg you to offer social services to them yet you’re paid to do so? Why must citizens suffer because of a public officer’s inefficiency to deliver services? We shall not accept that as the government and I would like to thank the IGG for coming up with a strategy of rallying the citizens to reject sub-standard services,” she said.
In her remarks, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya Turwomwe re-echoed her call to public officers to serve the citizens with respect and integrity.
The IGG also implored the citizens to demand for quality services and stop settling for less, saying that it is their right to hold any person holding a public office accountable.
“Citizens need to know that they are entitled to good quality service that is served with respect because they are the bosses. When they don’t get quality services they should report to the IGG who is the National Ombudsman. They also need to know that whoever is holding any public office does so for the interest of the people and is paid by the people,” the IGG said.
She noted that there is need for a mind-set change by the public officers to appreciate the fact that when citizens pay their taxes they expect to be served diligently.
If the public officers do shoddy work, the IGG said, the citizens have a right to report them to the Inspectorate of Government because it has the constitutional powers to take action.
She challenged the duty bearers to be champions of the rule of law so as to avoid administrative injustices against their subordinates.
“In the FY2022/23 alone, the IG received over 5000 ombudsman complaints and successfully resolved 3500 cases. We want the public to understand that beyond the mandate of fighting corruption, the IG also has the Ombudsman mandate which in one way or the other links the citizens to the government but also helps in resolving administrative injustices among public officers,” she said.
An Ombudsman is a public official appointed by the government to investigate the grievances or complaints raised by citizens regarding maladministration of the authority but with a significant degree of independence.
Maladministration can be defined as inefficient and/or dishonest management or administration. It can also be referred to as the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing injustice. For the case of Uganda, the IGG is the National Ombudsman.
The functions of the Inspectorate of Government as an ombudsman office are spelt out under Article 225(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.
The keynote address on the Alternative Dispute Resolution was delivered by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, a judge of the Court of Appeal.
