RUNDU – The Ombudsman’s Office has opened a Zambezi Regional Office in Katima Mulilo along Ngoma Road, in the former Zambezi Regional Council Offices.
The Office of the Ombudsman of Namibia promotes and protects human rights, fair and effective administration, combats misappropriation or misuse of public resources and protects the environment and natural resources of Namibia through the independent and impartial investigation and resolution of complaints and through raising public awareness.
“The setup of the office started towards mid-January and we only finalised recently. The official opening is on the cards and will soon be announced,” said the Ombudsman of Namibia’s public relations officer, Aureli David.
The Ombudsman’s Office is urging residents of Zambezi Region to make use of the new office to lodge their complaints in addition to for general enquiries. “If one needs to lay a complaint, they can call any of our regional offices or write a letter or you can walk in to lay a complaint. Most people prefer to walk in because some people express themselves better face to face,” David said.
“And then a lot of people from the regions especially would come to Windhoek to lay a complaint but we do our best to sensitise people about the different ways they can go about to lay their complaint. So the preferred method, especially as you know we dealing with a lot of people from the previously disadvantaged background and many cannot express themselves properly in English thus we made it a point to have people that speak the local language there,” she added.
“People must not be afraid that they can’t speak English so they won’t be able to express themselves. So, people are encouraged to walk in if you have the office in your region. You don’t need to travel long distance to Windhoek,” she further explained.
The Office of the Ombudsman of Namibia has offices in Ongwediva, Keetmanshoop, Swakopmund, Otjiwarongo and Windhoek and now in Katima Mulilo.