Kenyans alleging mistreatment by government institutions or officials can now lodge their complaints digitally.
Citizens need not to travel to Ombudsman offices in Nairobi, Isiolo, Kisumu and Mombasa to complain.
The Commission on Administration of Justice on Tuesday launched the Complaint Management Information System portal through which, ordinary citizens can lodge complaints at their convenience.
One will also be able to follow the progress of their case remotely without having to visit the commission’s offices.
The commission's chairperson Florence Kajuju said their offices are yet to be cascaded to every part of the country and travel costs had barred many people from accessing their services.
Other aggrieved Kenyans were also afraid of approaching public officials to complain. The portal will now make it easier for members of the public to complain.
Kajuju also said the digital means is helpful in tracking the progress of complaints.
“The system will now show us, which officers is working on which case and hence see the progress made on them at a glance,” she said.
The chairperson said the platform will help infuse transparency in case handling by the commission.
The launch was graced by Supreme Court justice Njoki Ndung'u who represented Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Ndung'u said the move is transformative as it cascades access of state services to the ordinary people, by removing the barriers that stand on their way.
She said that was the dream of the constitution.
In the pilot phase of the portal, the commission received 497 complaints from members of the public.
The commission had members of the public flock the KICC hall where the portal was unveiled as a symbolic gesture of getting its services close to the ordinary Kenyan.
Hellen Moraa Nyangwara is one such beneficiary of the Ombudsman's service.
The widow had been dispossessed of her land, where she lives with six children in Narok.
Nyangwara had applied for a title deed for her parcel No 341 in Nkararo, Transmara, which had been demarcated in 1980.
However, it took longer to get help. She lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman on November 27, 2015, to probe the delay.
Six years later in 2021, Nyangwara heard that titles would be issued in the week of April 23. She then went to the adjudication section of the Ministry of Lands.
When her parcel number was called, she was surprised to hear that a businessman she did not know was identified as the owner.
Nyangwara was distraught, on the verge of losing her land.
In May 2021, she complained afresh to the Ombudsman, this time reporting the land was gone.
Ombudsman's probe narrowed the search down to two officials at the local lands office, who were in charge of adjudication and settlement. It got the land reverted to her.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
