By Chisomo Phiri
The country’s Ombudsman Grace Malera has been elected as one of the board of directors of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) for the African Region.
Malera has been elected alongside three others from South Africa, Morroco and Zambia respectively during an online vote that involved 11-member great from the region.
In an interview, Malera described her appointment as a great honour for the Malawi Ombudsman Office.
“This is a very important platform for the Malawi Ombudsman Office to strategically contribute to shaping the agenda, programming and participate in the discourse on issues of administrative justice, good governance and accountable, transparent and responsive public service delivery by governments.
“We are profoundly grateful of the confidence the entire IOI community has placed in the Malawi Ombudsman Office.” Malera said.
The newly elected regional directors are expected to be inaugurated at a meeting to be held in Netherlands in May 2024.
This comes few weeks after the Office of the Ombudsman of Malawi failed to obtain a seat at the African Ombudsman And Mediators Association (AOMA) General General Assembly in Kigali-Rwanda after failing to attend.
Malera and her delegation failed to travel following the recent ban on foreign travel for all public officers by President Lazarus Chakwera, as one of the austerity measures.
Established in 1978, IOI is the only global organization representing more than 200 independent Ombudsman institutions across the world and is organized in six regional chapters: Africa, Asia, Australasia & Pacific, Europe, Caribbean and Latin America, and North America.
The organisation is committed to promoting the Ombudsman concept and it does so in a variety of ways.
It raises awareness and encourages the creation of Ombudsman institutions where they do not exist.
IOI also promotes information exchange and helps members build capacity by way of shared learning and training.
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