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2007 Assessment

Namibia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Namibia: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: National Ombudsman
Indicators		Score
52	In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?	100
53	Is the national ombudsman effective?	68
54	Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?	83

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

52: In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, Articles 89 - 94, [ LINK ]

Ombudsman Act (No. 7 OF 1990) [ LINK ]

Is the national ombudsman effective?

53a: In law, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, Article 89 (2 - 3), [ LINK ]

53b: In practice, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: The fact that the Ombudsman's Office does not enjoy full administrative autonomy and independence is seen as a potential avenue for political interference.

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53c: In practice, the head of the ombudsman agency/entity is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, Article 89 (3), [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53d: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: There are a number of constraints resulting from the fact that the Ombudsman's Office receives its budget through the Ministry of Justice, while the conditions of service of its staff are subjected to the regulations of the Public Service Commission.

References: Ombudsman Act (No. 7 OF 1990) Article 7 (1 - 2) [ LINK ]

Office of the Ombudsman [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53e: In practice, agency appointments support the independence of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

Comments: There are a number of constrains enforced by the fact that the Ombudsman's Office receives its budget through the Ministry of Justice, while the conditions of service of its staff are subjected to the regulations of the Public Service Commission.

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53f: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: Although irregular, such funding is, however, adequate to fully meeting the operational needs of the Office.

References: Ombudsman Act (No. 7 OF 1990) Article 9, [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53g: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) makes publicly available reports.

Score:

100

Comments: Concerns were, however, expressed regarding the substantive content of the report, especially in terms of the nature and depth of the cases covered.

References: Ombudsman Act (No. 7 OF 1990) Article 6, [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53h: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency aggressively starts investigations -- or participates fully with cooperating agencies\' investigations -- into judicial misconduct. The agency is fair in its application of this power. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency will start or cooperate in investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, though limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency rarely investigates on its own or cooperates in other agencies\' investigations, or the agency is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments: The effectiveness of these is, however, hampered by a number of administrative constraints, such as the lack of adequate staff, and the fact that in some cases the recommendations emanating from such investigations are overlooked.

References: Ombudsman Act (No. 7 of 1990) Article 3, [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53i: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: In terms of its duties as defined in the Ombudsman Act, the Office has the powers to inquire into and investigate any instance or matter laid before it and/or as prescribed by the Act. The Act explicitly empowers the Ombudsman to institute appropriate actions or steps to call for or require the remedying, correction and reversal of matters or instances through such fair, proper and effective means. In this way, the Act precludes the imposition of penalties on offenders, but may rather refer the matter to the Prosecutor-General or the Auditor-General. It cal also bring proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction for an interdiction or some other suitable remedy to secure the termination of the offending action or conduct or the abandonment or alteration of the offending procedures.

References: Ombudsman Act (No. 7 OF 1990) Articles 3 and 5 [ LINK ]

Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

53j: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Ombudsman\'s reports are taken seriously, with negative findings drawing prompt corrective action. <p>50 Score Criteria: In most cases, ombudsman\'s reports are acted on, though some exceptions may occur for politicalally sensitive issues, or particularly resistant agencies. <p>0 Score Criteria: Ombudsman reports are often ignored, or given superficial attention. Ombudsman reports do not lead to policy changes.$

Comments: The two newspaper articles cited above depict the divergence with which the government acts on various findings from investigations undertaken by the Office of the Ombudsman. Thus, to a large extent, it can be argued that the responsiveness of government is dictated by the magnitude of the cases, with the government being more responsive to the smaller cases in comparison with bigger ones.

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

The Namibian Newspaper Hamata M., July 9, 2002, SSC Graft Claims Gain Momentum [ LINK ]

The Namibian Newspaper, Maletsky C., Sept. 27, 2006, "Unbelievable" Union Hits at Apathy at TransNamib, [ LINK ]

53k: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) acts on citizen complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The effectiveness with which the Ombudsman reacts to citizens' complaints tends to be hampered by a number of administrative constraints, such as the lack of adequate staff. Hence, sometimes it takes too long to either commence or complete an investigation. Moreover, in some cases, the recommendations emanating from such investigations are overlooked.

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?

54a: In law, citizens can access reports of the ombudsman(s).

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Article 91 (g) of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, [ LINK ],

It requires the ombudsman to report annually to the National Assembly on the exercise of his or her powers and functions.

54b: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Although such information is generally freely available, its uses are hampered by a number of socioeconomic, cultural and economic constrains, such as illiteracy, legal and political ignorance, limited ability to converse in the official language (English), geographic remoteness etc.

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek

54c: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

References: Tjombe N., Director, Legal Assistance Centre, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, Windhoek

Ndjarakana M., Director of the Namibia Democracy Support Centre; previously he served as Secretary to the National Assembly, Dec. 5, 2007, Windhoek