Accountability and good governance in the public administration are enhanced by recommendations made by external institutions of oversight. One such institution is the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The public administration invariably adopts and takes on such recommendations provided their implementation is possible. This valid contribution serves to identify areas for improvement, enhance service delivery and to action long-term changes such as amendments to policy and legislation where required.
A quantum leap in the afore-mentioned efforts to set higher standards in the public administration is the Public Service Strategy Initiative 52.2, which stipulates that conformity by ministries to the recommendations made by the Ombudsman has to be accomplished within 90 days.
The Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary has entrusted the Governance Action Directorate to probe into and keep track of the cases put forward by the Ombudsman and his Commissioners across the ministries, departments and entities.
Ministries are obliged to send quarterly updates to this Directorate on the new cases received in the current year and their status, and also report developments on cases of previous year/s. Our officers together with our ministerial counterparts investigate each case and follow up progress until its recommendation, if accepted, is fully accomplished.
The Governance Action Directorate holds exit meetings with representatives from the ministries involved to clarify grey areas before the final drafting of the report in reply to the Ombudsman’s annual report.
Latest edition of Governance Action on the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2023 was published on 4 February 2025
