LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Ombudsman Martha Chizuma says the closure of the building that houses the offices of the institution in the capital Lilongwe due to failure to settle rentals has heavily crippled the operations of the same.
Chizuma cited meetings of officers, follow up calls on cases by clients and other administrative matters as being heavily affected by the closure of the building.
” We are heavily affected by this closure of the office building because our office is like a hospital where people come every day to open new case files, follow up on their cases; and even our own meetings and communications in the office. As it is now, all those operations have come to a standstill,” said Chizuma.
However, Public Relations Officer in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, which is responsible for the settlement of rentals for the office of the Ombudsman, Charles Vintula, said the Ministry has already issued a cheque to the Ministry of Finance to settle down the rentals.
The Office of the Ombudsman was sealed down on Tuesday for failure to settle MK29 million in rental arrears, for over a year, to Go Malawi, the proprietor of the building.
