Justice minister defends ombudsman’s independence, no evidence of interference 

Justice minister Yvonne Dausab on Wednesday defended the Office of the Ombudsman’s independence, saying that there will be no interference in the mandate to carry out its duties.

Her response follows comments from works and transport deputy minister Veikko Nekundi who said that if the bill is not thoroughly examined, it has the potential to promote homosexuality via international laws which Namibia ratified.

Nekundi’s stance is based on concerns that foreign funders, some of whom support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and other rights, provide funding to the ombudsman’s office. He believes the bill needs thorough examination to understand its potential implications in light of this funding.

Several members of parliament have also expressed concerns over the autonomy of the Office of the Ombudsman that could be compromised by the direct appointment of the ombudsman by the president.

“The ombudsman office’s independence is something that the executive supports. It is important that the ombudsman remains independent, and part of indepence is institutional independence,” Dausab said.

She said there is no evidence that there has been any interference by the executive with the mandate of the ombudsman.

“Independence is not determined by who appoints you. Independence is about the operational mandate,” she stated.

She explained that the reason why they are taking the ombudsman’s office out of the justice office is to provide it with operational mandates.

Dausab said the office will have its own accounting officer and vote as part of the appropriation process.

She, however, agreed that the appointment of the ombudsman should be conducted in the same manner as that of the judiciary.

“Initially, we are setting up the ombudsman office while we do not know the exact costs that are associated with setting it up. Some of the staff members who are already part of the ombudsman’s office will be part of setting it up and we may even have to consider seconding some of the staff members from the public service,” she said.

Dausab clarified that the person to be appointed as the ombudsman is further protected by an independent committee which makes recommendations to the Judicial Service Commission, thereby ensuring the integrity of the process.

She explained that the ombudsman’s office is mandated by the Constitution. She added that while she’s not suggesting the Constitution cannot be amended to change the name, it should be done at a more appropriate time.

“Changing a name is not something we do overnight. We must prepare our society to know that we are now calling the ombudsman a public protector, for example. We all know that this office was intended to be a public office and it was not intended to offend men or women,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Dausab said there seems to be a different understanding of human rights, citing that regardless of different interpretations, all Namibians are human beings, no matter the different ethnic groups.

“If this august house is talking about protection of people’s rights, it means all Namibians, and I really do not want to go into that homosexuality debate, because I think it dilutes the essence and the importance of what this house is about,” she said.

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