THE COMMISSION ON ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE

Office of the Ombudsman

Hata Mnyonge Ana Haki

Press Statement for Immediate Release
OMBUDSMAN LAUNCHES FREE TOLL NUMBER AND SMS PLATFORM
FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS
26th May 2015
The Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the
Ombudsman) is a Constitutional Commission established under
Article 59(4) of the Constitution and the Commission on
Administrative Justice Act, 2011. The mandate of the
Commission is to enforce administrative justice in the public
sector in Kenya by addressing maladministration through
effective complaints handling and alternative dispute resolution.
In addition, the Commission has a mandate to safeguard public
interest by promoting constitutionalism, securing the observance
of democratic values and principles, and protecting the
sovereignty of the people of Kenya.
Article 6(3) of the Constitution places responsibility on state
organs to ensure reasonable access to their services in all parts
of the Republic. To this end, the Commission has taken
progressive steps to ensure fulfilment of this obligation.
At the time of effective commencement of duty by the
Commissioners in 2012, the Commission had a tiny office on the
top floor of the redisgnated Deputy Presidents Office,
(Harambee House Annex). Despite the teething problems
encountered then, the Commission handled 4,062 complaints,

1,398 (34%) of which were resolved. In 2013, the Commission

opened two branch offices in Mombasa and Kisumu. Further, we
relocated to our own office space in 2014, as you can see today.
Additionally, we scaled awareness of, and accessibility to the
Commission through various programmes, key among them,
county visits and media advocacy. Besides creating awareness
on the mandate of the Commission, the programmes provided
an opportunity for the public to lodge complaints and make
inquiries in their localities, and this culminated in an exponential
increment of the number of complaints to 18,257 with 11,253
(62%) of them resolved.
In 2014, while building on the strategies of the previous years, the
Commission embarked on further expansion through
establishment of other branches and presence at the various
Huduma Centres. Consequently, we have since secured offices
in Isiolo and Eldoret. We have also posted officers in various
Huduma Centres, namely, Kakamega, Nyeri, Embu, Kajiado,
Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisii, Mombasa, Kisumu and Teleposta Towers in
Nairobi. This has led to further exponential growth in the number
of complaints. In this regard, we are happy to report that in 2014
alone, the Commission handled 86,905 complaints with 70,806
(81.5%) resolved.
Whereas the numbers may appear significant, it is only a fraction
of legitimate complaints Kenyans have against public officers
and institutions. For this reason, we continue to engage in
aggressive training of public officers to enhance their capacities
to not only handle complaints within their institutions, but also to
minimise chances of those complaints arising in the first place.
Thus, in 2014, the Commission trained 2,762 officers on
complaints handling, good governance and principles of good
public administration. We also continue to heighten awareness
of both members of the public and government officers. One
further approach the Commission has adopted is publicity
through electronic media clips, as you may have recently
noticed on some TV stations. As a further effort to create
awareness, increase accessibility, and facilitate ease of lodging

complaints, we are happy to unveil yet another approach we

think will facilitate ease of filing complaints.
Today, we are happy to launch, first, a toll free number
0800221349 through which any member of the public can call
toll free and have their complaint filed. Second, we also launch
an SMS platform through the short-code number 15700 which is
accessible through Safaricom. Through this, the Commission shall
be accessible to the 22 million Safaricom subscribers on the
touch of a button, and for free.
We encourage Kenyans to take advantage of this opportunity
to report any form of maladministration or injustice they may
encounter in public offices. Although we anticipate that this will
immediately increase the number of complaints we receive, we
believe it to be fit and proper that Kenyans should have proper
avenues for complaints and redress of grievances, even as we
engage government for additional resources.
We welcome you to see our Helpdesk before you leave, and
To partner with us in this endeavor.
We now have the pleasure of presenting to you our Annual Report,
2014.

DR. OTIENDE AMOLLO, EBS

CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION