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{
    "id": 799375,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/799375/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
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    "content": "to act with integrity, be transparent and accountable for whatever they do with regard to actions, finances and even the utterances they make. Another core value of the Office of the Ombudsman that makes a watchdog of justice and fairness is diversity. That office acknowledges that people are diverse and if people are diverse, they have to be accepted with their uniqueness. The core values of the Ombudsman translate to making a leader a servant. That is the commitment we need to have when we take up public office. We have to be committed to serving the public and be the servants of the public. That is why I feel this office is important. The office has a scope which cannot go unnoticed. They will be looking at issues of maladministration for instance in a situation where there is delay in getting identification cards, birth certificates or visas. They will ensure that officers account for what they are supposed to do. That means that public servants will be efficient in delivery of services and that is the essence of devolution; to ensure that services are provided and reach mwananchi. They will also look at administrative justice. For example, they will be looking at situations where someone is not acting when he or she is supposed to. I remember an incident happened to a school in Mombasa where a head of a school did not arrest a situation in good time. They released a bus to take students for a school trip but the bus was faulty and in the process a child died. That is something that the head of the school needed to arrest in good time. This scope of the Ombudsman will allow servants and leaders to do what they are mandated to do. Another is the issue of misconduct and integrity. As public servants, we need to have integrity in whatever we do. When we talk of issues of integrity, we are concerned about ethical issues even at the workplace. We have had many situations, some of them in the media, where headteachers have affairs with their students. There are also cases where lecturers have affairs with their students for marks and that is unethical. The Office of the Ombudsman will help to address such situations. Another issue is capacity development. When you talk of capacity development, this is where public officers are trained on how to handle problems that citizens face. Officers need to be trained so that they know how to handle issues in order for them to be addressed. I also want to talk about the issue of performance contracting. The Office of the Ombudsman will help in seeing that officers do their work. For example, when you talk of performance contracting, an important question would be to know how many complaints have been taken to the office and if they have been addressed. That can be an indicator to know whether public servants are working or not. Finally, another important scope is on alternative dispute resolution. There are cases where people take cases to court and they take forever to be resolved. Instead of taking a case to court and it takes five years, there are other alternative methods like arbitration or negotiation that can be used to solve problems. Information has to reach the people or problem that people encounter on a daily basis need to be addressed in an amicable manner in a way that people will still live in a friendly manner. I support this Motion which should go a notch higher and translated to a Bill to become a law. We even need to have a kitty for the Office of the Ombudsman to help in oversight. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}