Ombudsman’s office capable of conducting effective investigations - Winston Moore

Ombudsman’s office capable of conducting effective investigations – Winston Moore

Apr 06, 2014 News

By Kiana Wilburg
Members of the political Opposition have categorically stated that the mere appointment of an Ombudsman is only half of the task. The Opposition has demanded that the Office of the Ombudsman be “fully staffed” and given the necessary resources that would strengthen its investigative capacity.
But in an exclusive interview with this publication last week, Former Justice Winston Moore who now serves as Guyana’s Ombudsman, asserts that his office currently has the capacity to carry out effective investigations.

Ombudsman
Winston Moore

On January 13, Moore was sworn in as the new Ombudsman at the Office of the President. The significant post is one which was vacant for the past eight years. The last person holding this position was Justice Sheik Mohamed who died in 2005.The Office of Ombudsman is one of the most respected and key constitutional
jobs.
An Ombudsman, though appointed by the Government or Parliament, is given a significant amount of autonomy. He is also mandated to represent the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of mal-administration or violation of rights.
More specifically, Shadow Minister of Labour Mr. Basil Williams had previously said, “The role of the Ombudsman is to basically stand up for citizens. This independent body is also tasked with carrying out proper investigations on the violations of people’s rights. We (APNU) don’t want the office to become a “sinecure” (a job or place that is paid but does little to no work) which has been the case in several instances in the past and there is a danger of it becoming like that if we don’t pay attention to it having an effective investigative capacity.”
The Ombudsman has expressed that while his office has been staffed, he is waiting to see what will be granted for the advancement of the office in the 2014 Budget.
“From day one we have been getting complaints. It has been a lot but I can’t say what the number of complaints is so far. Some of them I don’t have jurisdiction over but almost in every case if there is a remedy, I point the complainant as to where they would have to go,” Moore expressed.
The former Justice added, “We have not turned away anyone, but we have always tried to tell them where to go. We are getting a lot of complaints. And it says a number of things.”
When asked if he would not be able to carry out fully, the mandate of his office, due to limited human resources at his disposal, he said, “No, I can’t say that. We are working with what we have. We have a staff of six and the office has been furnished with most of what we need. A photocopier would be useful, but we are using a private service for the time being, but on the physical side we have most of what we want. We are looking to see if we can contract out of office if need be, that is if we don’t have the human resources.”
When asked if his team has started investigations into any matter, the Ombudsman said, “I have not investigated any matter so far. We have been doing some preliminary work in some cases to see if it would warrant an investigation at all.
We have a lot of complaints. For example we have a very serious matter before us but I am not at liberty to disclose the nature of that matter…But it appears to be someone who seems to be deeply traumatized by certain things he alleges that were done to him but I am not at liberty to disclose anything else.”
When pressed by this publication, Moore said, “It is somebody who claims to be wrongfully prosecuted and they were made a scapegoat and that’s all I can say for now. A matter of fact I spoke with the Director of Public Prosecutions and there is a letter she will receive and it is a recommendation for a certain course of action on that very serious matter. A copy will also be sent to the Commissioner of Police.”
Further, as it relates to whether the Ombudsman can at this point in time, effectively conduct investigations, he said, “We have got the capacity to effectively carry out investigations but we don’t have any matter that requires that but we have the capacity. The allocation from the Budget would be used in the event if we need outside persons to do special investigations.”
According to the 2014 estimates of the Public Sector, the Ombudsman’s office was awarded, $35M.
Additionally, based on the nature of some of the complaints received and the expectations of the complainants, the Ombudsman said that there is a serious need for a lot of outreach programmes. The office, he said, was not functioning for a while and it is important for people to know what the office can and cannot do. “There are a lot of misconceptions about what I am empowered to do. I have said before that we need to meet the people but it is something that will be attended to after we see what has been granted to us.”
“We have to get out to Essequibo and Berbice to do so much more. We have a lot of work to do and it won’t be easy to cover the entire country. But I am waiting to see what will be granted,” the Ombudsman concluded.