REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OF AFRICAN OMBUDSMAN AND MEDIATORS ASSOCIATION (AOMA) AND CHIEF OMBUDSMAN OF ETHIOPIA MRS FOZIA AMIN ON 2ND ANNUAL REGIONAL COLLOQUIUM OF AFRICAN OMBUDSMAN AT SAFARI PARK HOTEL, NAIROBI,KENYA (19TH FEB 2015)

Abstract

The concept of Ombudsman is not a strange phenomenon in African traditions. In former times, there institutions were put in place in differentcultures which played a similar role to that of Ombudsman. The idea of elder groupings such as the Njuri Cheke in Meru, Kokwet in Kalenjin, the Ker in Luos, the Abashingantahe in Burundi, Umuvunyi in Rwanda just to name but a few ensured that there was relief and redress to citizens who were adversely aggrieved. formal Ombudsman (or its equivalent) is one which has grown rapidly and taken root in a variety of constitutional dispensations. At the inception of the concept, many conservative legal thinkers wondered what the new institution was coming to cure that the traditional institution of the judiciary could not. However, over time, the Ombudsman institution, has proved that the versatility with which it deals with the problems registered by citizens on maladministration, particularly when the traditional formal structures of legal processes have failed or are inappropriate has immensely contributed to the welfare of the citizens, especially “the wanyonge”. Unlike the Ombudsman institution, which is endowed with the possibility of flexibility in dealing with problems of maladministration, the Courts are by and large limited in the way they deal with the problems. Litigation can be costly and at times slow and littered with tedious and complex legal procedures.