Annual Report 2012
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OMBUDSMAN COMMISSION OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA Annual Report 2012 Independent State of Papua New Guinea TELEPHONE: (675) 308 2600 PO Box 1831 FACSIMILE : (675) 320 3263 PORT MORESBY 121 NCD EMAIL: [email protected] Papua New Guinea DATE: 10/10/2014 His Excellency Sir Michael Ogio CMG, CBE The Governor-General Government House KONEDOBU National Capital District Your Excellency, Section 220 of the Constitution* requires the Ombudsman Commission to furnish to the Head of State, for presentation to Parliament, an Annual Report on its functions and workings as well as other such reports as necessary from time to time. The Commission hereby submits to you its 2012 Annual Report. It covers the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012 and includes the Commission’s 2012 Audited Financial Report. I advise that at the finalisation of this Report, Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek LLB, LLM, OL and Ombudsman John Nero BAC, MBA have passed away hence the omission of their signatures. Yours sincerely, Rigo A. Lua; OBE Phoebe Sangetari; LLB, LLM CHIEF OMBUDSMAN OMBUDSMAN Section 220 of the Constitution is quoted here in full. * Section 220 of the Constitution states: (1) The Ombudsman Commission shall, at least once in each period of 12 months, at such time as is fixed by or under an Act of the Parliament or, subject to any such Act, by the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the National Executive Council, give to the Head of State, for presentation to the Parliament, a report on the functions and workings of the Commission, with such recommendations as to improvement as the Commission thinks proper. (2) Nothing in Subsection (1) prevents the Commission from making, on its own initiative or at the request of the Parliament or of the National Executive, other reports on any aspect of the functions and workings of the Commission. Ombudsman Commission of Papua New Guinea ANNUAL REPORT 2012 For the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012 2012 Annual Report Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 2 2. Vision, Mission & Goal .......................................................................................... 5 2.1 VISION ........................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 MISSION ........................................................................................................................................ 5 2.3 VALUES ......................................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 KEY RESULT AREAS ................................................................................................................... 5 2.5 STRATEGIC GOALS..................................................................................................................... 5 3. Progress against Key Result Areas ....................................................................... 6 3.1 KRA 1- ACCESSIBILITY & SERVICE DELIVERY .................................................................... 6 3.2 KRA 2: LEADERSHIP CODE COMPLIANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATIONS ………………….………………………………………………………………………………..13 3.3 KRA 3: CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLIANCE, LITIGATION AND LEGISLATIVE REFORM ……….…………………………………………………………………………………………..21 3.4 KRA 4: CORPORATE CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE ......................... 23 4. Financial Audited Report ..................................................................................... 28 5. Organisational Structure ..................................................................................... 40 6. Appendices .......................................................................................................... 41 7. Figures Figure 1…………………………………………………………………………………………......6 Figure 2…………………………………………………………………………………………......6 Figure 3…………………………………………………………………………………………......7 Figure 4…………………………………………………………………………………………......7 Figure 5…………………………………………………………………………………………......7 Figure 6…………………………………………………………………………………………......8 Figure 7…………………………………………………………………………………………......8 Figure 8…………………………………………………………………………………………......9 Figure 9…………………………………………………………………………………………......9 Figure 10..………………………………………………………………………………………....10 Figure 11..………………………………………………………………………………………....10 Figure 12..………………………………………………………………………………………....11 Figure 13..………………………………………………………………………………………....14 Figure 14…………………………………………………………………………………………..14 Figure 15…………………………………………………………………………………………..15 Figure 16…………………………………………………………………………………………..15 Figure 17…………………………………………………………………………………………..23 Figure 18…………………………………………………………………………………………..24 Figure 19…………………………………………………………………………………………..24 Figure 20…………………………………………………………………………………………..25 Figure 21…………………………………………………………………………………………..26 Figure 22…………………………………………………………………………………………..27 Table of Contents Page I 2012 Annual Report 1. Executive Summary The Commission for this reporting period is late Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek, Ombudsman John Nero and Ombudsman Phoebe Sangetari. We pay tribute to late Chief Ombudsman Manek for his service to the Commission and the people of Papua New Guinea in his distinguished career. He held constitutional offices including Public Solicitor, Public Prosecutor and Chief Ombudsman of PNG until his passing. During the course of his career, late Manek was appointed to a number of organisations both in-country and abroad notably Co-Chairman of the International Association of Prosecutors World Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Director International Ombudsman Institute, to name a few. Late Manek was into his 5th year of his term when he succumbed to illness on 1 October 2012. He was the first serving Chief Ombudsman to pass away while serving his term in office. Ombudsman Nero was reappointed for another term in office after his first term expired this year. Before joining the Commission as a Senior Investigator and later worked his way up to an Ombudsman, he served as a Finance Inspector with the Department of Finance and Planning. Ombudsman Sangetari is the second female Ombudsman after Jean Kekedo in the history of PNG and has served in the Public Service for more than twenty (20) years, having worked with the Departments of Environment & Conservation and Personnel Management to name a few. Following the death of late Chief Ombudsman Manek, Ombudsman Sangetari was appointed Acting Chief Ombudsman making her the first female Ombudsman to have gone as far as the Acting Chief Ombudsman. An acting appointment was made for the Ombudsman position however; it was disputed hence affected Commission meetings. This saw an increase in the backlog of case files pending Commission’s decisions. Filling of vacant positions carried over from previous years and those created by officers leaving or appointed to higher positions in the establishment continue to be a challenge to the Commission. There are setbacks in the Commission’s drive to attract suitably qualified people due to its inability to match and compete in the external labour market. These were some of the major challenges that the Commission encountered in 2012; . The National Government appropriation for 2012 financial year was less than the requested amount hence most of the planned activities/programs/projects were not fully carried out. Budget constraint is one of the areas that affects the role of the Commission in achieving some of its strategic objectives and/or plans. Staff Performance is one area that is really depended on the Staff Terms & Conditions (T&C) of employment. The Commission through its technical team with the consultant (Merit Enterprise) reviewed the T&C for the staff and finalised the report for endorsement and/or implementation however the lack of quorum due to delay in the Ombudsman Appointments Committee (AOC) in appointing a Chief Ombudsman has caused a lot of challenges for the management in maintaining the staff strength whilst ensuring the T&C is implemented on time. The passing of late Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek, followed by Counsel Gregory Emilio in 2012 has posed a lot of challenges to the decision making and workflow of the Executive Summary Page 2 2012 Annual Report Commission all year round. The slow process of the appointment of a new Chief Ombudsman by OAC and the delay in internal appointments of Counsel and acting Secretary due to lack of quorum or issues relating to appointment have greatly affected the decision making process. The Commission carried out a countrywide awareness prior to the National Elections this year. This was one of the major challenges especially when educating the public to make informed decisions when electing leaders in the National General Election. The Commission has been passive on issues of national interest this year as a result of ill health and passing of the late Chief Ombudsman Manek, late Counsel Emilio and issues relating to acting appointments to fill these strategic positions. The internal issues had a great impact on the level of contribution and approach by the Commission to the People of Papua New Guinea in addressing issues of national interest. Despite the countless difficulties faced, the Commission managed to deliver its planned activities. In its endeavour to educate the public and stakeholders on its roles and functions, the Commission visited mainly tertiary institutions around the country with the perception that students are the future