It’s going well at regional branches: Ombud

WINDHOEK – The regional offices of the Office of the Ombudsman at Oshakati and Keetmanshoop are said to be progressing well and the number of complaints registered through the two offices has increased dramatically.

About 1 159 complaints have been recorded since January. In an interview with Nampa on Friday, Ombudsman John Walters said the statistics proved that people were making using the offices.The two regional offices were opened in March last year.Walters said his office was informing people in rural areas how to use its services, but that progress was hampered by a lack of transport.”Due to our limited financial resources, we cannot fully reach out to everyone.But we are trying our level best, although we cannot provide solutions to all the complaints on time as the public expects us to do.I can tell you that we are progressing well,” Walters said.The Office of the Ombudsman has only one car to conduct operations countrywide.Walters said his office would consult with the Office of the Prime Minister on the possibility of establishing permanent offices in other regions.”If possible, we want to have regional offices in other regions as well, as part of our decentralisation objectives.Because of insufficient funds, we have chosen Oshakati and Keetmanshoop at the moment to cover the northern and southern regions.Still there are those at the grassroots level that cannot reach these offices to make use of them,” he said.In addition, the Office of the Ombudsman plans to visit every town in Namibia at least once a year to record people’s complaints.- NampaIn an interview with Nampa on Friday, Ombudsman John Walters said the statistics proved that people were making using the offices.The two regional offices were opened in March last year.Walters said his office was informing people in rural areas how to use its services, but that progress was hampered by a lack of transport.”Due to our limited financial resources, we cannot fully reach out to everyone.But we are trying our level best, although we cannot provide solutions to all the complaints on time as the public expects us to do.I can tell you that we are progressing well,” Walters said.The Office of the Ombudsman has only one car to conduct operations countrywide.Walters said his office would consult with the Office of the Prime Minister on the possibility of establishing permanent offices in other regions.”If possible, we want to have regional offices in other regions as well, as part of our decentralisation objectives.Because of insufficient funds, we have chosen Oshakati and Keetmanshoop at the moment to cover the northern and southern regions.Still there are those at the grassroots level that cannot reach these offices to make use of them,” he said.In addition, the Office of the Ombudsman plans to visit every town in Namibia at least once a year to record people’s complaints.- Nampa