Solomon Islands’ Opposition leader Matthew Wale has raised serious concerns about the challenges facing the Ombudsman Office and other Integrity Institutions.
Wale expressed these while tabling the Ombudsman Report 2021 in Parliament.
Highlighting the core issues, Wale said:
“The Ombudsman office is plagued by the two challenges of inadequate budget allocations and insufficient human resource positions.
“These challenges undermine the spirit and intentions of the Ombudsman Act 2017.”
Wale reminded Parliament that Government had pledged to address these two key issues when the Ombudsman Act was being discussed in Parliament.
He pointed out that the current issues indicate that either Government is not following through on its commitments, or the law itself is unrealistic.
Wale stressed that other integrity institutions also face the same challenges.
“I note that the Electoral Commission and Act suffers the same challenge.
“I assume the other so-called independent bodies within our government system also face the same challenges.
“The question ought to be asked, is this fixable – so that it is simply a lack of political will, or is it unrealistic given the demands on the budget?”
Wale stressed the importance of realistic lawmaking that is in line with Government budget constraints.
“There is no point making laws that are undermined by lack of capacity to implement them,” the Opposition leader concluded.
In the 2024 National Budget, which parliament passed last Thursday, the Ombudsman’s Office was allocated $5.4 million.
This was an increase of $93,743 from the $5,262,408 it was allocated in the 2023 budget. In the 2022 budget, the Ombudsman was allocated a mere $1.9 million.
The Ombudsman’s office was established under the Constitution to protect the interest of the public.
It does so by assisting people to resolve complaints about government bodies, independently investigating and reporting on the actions and practices of government bodies, and fostering accountable, lawful, transparent and responsive administration in public offices.
