The Ministry of Health (MoH) has said it has complied with 89 percent of the Ombudsman’s determinations in the last three years.
It says the determinations were issued against the ministry in the last 10 years.
This was revealed in Lilongwe when ministry officials, led by Principal Secretary responsible for Administration James Manyetera, appeared before members of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to respond to matters related to non-compliance with the Ombudsman’s determinations.
During the session, Manyetera gave an update on the 18 determinations that the Office of the Ombudsman brought to the attention of the committee, some of which were carried over from a similar interface in 2022.
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It emerged that out of the 18 determinations issued by the Office of the Ombudsman, 16 were complied with.
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The ministry cited issues of missing records and documents as the main reason why the other determinations are yet to be complied with.
Manyetera further pointed out that the Decentralisation Policy, which is in line with the Local Government Act of 1998, has in some cases been among the major causes of delay in complying with the determinations, as the matters have to be addressed through the respective district councils.
“…There has been a shift in the way human resource in the ministry is managed. With the coming of decentralisation, most of the cases handled by the Ombudsman originated from the districts. As such, it has been a challenge for us to follow up, hence the delays,
“I, therefore, urge the Office of the Ombudsman to take a different step of directing the cases to the places of origin,” Manyetera said.
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He then said the ministry was committed to implementing directives that are yet to be complied with.
Manyetera said they are ensuring that there is a dedicated desk officer within the ministry to look into issues of compliance with determinations from the Office of the Ombudsman.
But Ombudsman Grace Malera said “it remains ministries’ legal duty” to collaborate with decentralised structures to ensure that there is compliance with determinations from her office.
She then hailed the ministry, saying the compliance rate is high, a development she attributed to improved understanding of issues by officials in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on the mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Other ministry officials who appeared before the committee came from Agriculture, Natural Resources, Transport and Public works and Education.
The Ministry of Education emerged as the least compliant institution to the Ombudsman’s determinations.
Recently, members of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament summoned officials from some MDAs.
Meanwhile, chairperson for the committee, Peter Dimba, has said they are impressed with strides the Ministry of Health has made in complying with the Ombudsman’s determinations.
“We applaud the Secretary for Health and his team for such a performance,” Dimba said.
