More than seven months after the Office of the Ombudsman was left vacant, the man who last held the post is speaking out, not to ask for the job back, but to question why it still has not been filled. Retired Major Gilbert Swaso says he has no plans to reapply, but he believes government may be complicating the process by searching for a candidate with specialized human rights expertise. Swaso argues that an Ombudsman should be appointed now, and that human rights training can follow, especially since the legal changes needed to merge a National Human Rights Institution with the Ombudsman’s Office have not yet been made.
Gilbert Swaso
Major Gilbert Swaso (Ret’d), Former Ombudsman
“No, not at all. I don’t intend to reapply in any way or form. I believe that It is not for me to go back into the office of the Ombudsman under the circumstances. My view is that there’s a lot of distortion, particularly because of the fact that there is a project to establish and integrate the National Human Rights Institute into the office of the Ombudsman. My recollection and how I know it to be is that the Ombudsman office will be integrating another department Now, to say then that you need someone who has a certificate or knowledge of human rights is making it difficult to appoint an ombudsman under the circumstances, because In my view, they are two separate thing. The office of the ombudsman should remain as is because this is a consultation process to establish and integrate for the next two and a half to three years. We will be building the institution of the Human Rights Institute within the Office of the Ombudsman. So I believe that however the ombudsman was appointed, as per the law in the past, the act, the act has not changed.”
Swaso warns that new human rights requirements could slow the appointment process and leave the Ombudsman’s office vacant even longer.
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