A new report from the Office of the Ombudsman has highlighted significant delays in the provision of government services in Kenya.
The Status of Administrative Justice and Access to Information Report, released on Wednesday, May 22, reveals that 17 public institutions accounted for over half of the total complaints filed between 2012 and 2023.
The National Police Service, the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Security, and the Judiciary were identified as the most frequently complained-about institutions. These findings underscore the pervasive challenges Kenyans face in accessing timely and efficient public services.
The Commission, in its eleven years of existence, has managed 42,678 cases, resolving 25,501 of them, marking a resolution rate of 59.8 per cent. The report specifies that complaints against the National Police Service constituted the highest percentage at 9.22 per cent, followed by the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Interior at 6.88 per cent and 6.62 per cent, respectively.
The Judiciary was the subject of 5.82 per cent of the complaints, while the Ministry of Education, County Governments, the Office of the Attorney General, and the National Treasury received 3.82 per cent, 3.33 per cent, 2.46 per cent, and 2.30 per cent of the complaints, respectively.
Other institutions with over one per cent but below two per cent of complaints include the Teachers Service Commission, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Pensions Department, National Land Commission, Kenya Power, Department of Civil Registration, Ministry of Health, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Department of Immigration.
According to the Ombudsman, delays, defined as the failure by a public institution to act within a reasonable time according to standard procedures, are the most common form of maladministration, comprising 22.60 per cent of the overall complaints. Unresponsive official conduct, which refers to the failure of a public officer to respond to communication without justifiable cause, follows at 19 per cent.
Other significant issues highlighted include abuse of power, unfair treatment, and administrative injustice. Manifest injustice accounted for 16.40 per cent of the complaints, inefficiency for 12.50 per cent, unfair treatment for 11.30 per cent, abuse of power for 10.60 per cent, oppressive official conduct for 5.60 per cent, and discourtesy for 2 per cent.
The report points out that Kenyans are more likely to face delays than discourtesy when seeking government services. This has significant implications for the efficacy and public perception of these institutions.
The National Police Service, comprising the Kenya Police Service, Administration Police Service, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, has been a particular focal point. The police service, with approximately 101,288 officers, is divided into several specialised units dealing with diverse issues such as traffic, tourism, railways, and critical infrastructure protection. Despite these divisions, the service continues to be plagued by complaints of inefficiency and misconduct.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), established to monitor and investigate police misconduct, has recorded an increase in complaints from 594 in 2012 to 3,583 in 2021. A significant portion of these complaints, 36.1 per cent, pertained to allegations of police assault, 30.6 per cent involved shootings that caused harm, and 22 per cent involved fatalities. Despite the IPOA's efforts, many of these cases remain unresolved, indicating a persistent issue within the police service.
