Zimbabwe: Ombudsman's Office
Updated August 2009
Section 107 and 108 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provide for an Office of the Ombudsman. The office was established in 1982 by the Ombudsman Act. The office is tasked with investigating cases of administrative malpractice and alleged contravention of the Declaration of Rights by members of the defence forces, police, governmental departments and the prison service on civil society. It has the power to make recommendations to various arms of government. Section 9 of the Ombudsman's Act prohibits the ombudsman from investigating any action taken by the President or his personal staff.
The ombudsman is appointed for a three-year term, renewable once, by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The ombudsman must hold legal qualifications. The agency receives regular funding mostly from the Ministry of Justice.
In law, it is protected from political interference and is independent but this is not entirely the case in practice. The current ombudsman, Mrs. Chanetsa, is a wife of a former provincial governor. She therefore tends to be highly partisan and reluctant to find fault with the government. She is also a political appointee (Global Integrity 2006).
In the past, the ombudsman was only removed after committing gross misconduct. The ombudsman is relatively immune from removal of office without justification except when the appointment is political as is in the current case. Although this may be the case, the ombudsman was still appointed on merit and she has the qualifications to fill the post.
In practice, the agency initiates investigations where there is no jurisdiction such as the President's office, but only after receiving a complaint. Penalties can be imposed on offenders but they are not monetary. Illegally or wrongfully dismissed officers can be reinstated if cleared of wrongdoing once a case is complete. The ombudsman can only make recommendations on what course of action should be taken for particular offences. The government acts on the findings of the agency only if they are not politically embarrassing to the government. The agency is generally sloppy when it comes to acting on citizen complaints. It has a huge backlog and therefore settling complaints takes an unreasonably long time.
Very few Zimbabweans actually know this office exists and it is rarely publicised (Global Integrity 2006) . In law, citizens can access reports except that the latest available report is for the year 2001. Reports are available to citizens upon request. Reports may be late but they are publicly available when the investigations are complete.
References
CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE 1980, incorporates all amendments until October 2007, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/ZW/zimbabwe-constitution-of- zimbabwe-2008-1 [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).
GLOBAL INTEGRITY 2006 "Zimbabwe Scorecard Report" In Global Integrity Report 2006, [www] http://www.globalintegrity.org/reports/2006/zimbabwe/index.cfm [opens new window] (accessed 8 Mar 2010).
OMBUDSMAN ACT, 1982
