The Commission on Administrative Justice (the Ombudsman office) is set to open an office in Meru County that will serve the county residents as well as those from the neighbouring Tharaka Nithi County.
Speaking after paying a courtesy call to Meru County Commissioner Jacob Ouma, the Commission’s Chairperson Florence Kajuju said the move is set to ease the residents’ burden of walking for long distances as well as incurring costs in search of justice.
“We have already discussed with the County Commissioner on the modalities of having an office here in Meru and we have already identified its location.”
We also wanted him to help us with security officers to man the office so that those coming can get help as its supposed to be and we are happy that he has agreed not only to our request but also to work with us as well as other government officers to ensure our work is felt on the ground,” said Ms Kajuju.
She added that they will continue liaising with the County Commissioner to have the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) clarify the purpose and the duties of their office and especially its presence in the County.
She said they have also been in Meru for the last three days training county government staff on the usage of money donated by the World Bank to cushion residents from the effects of climate change.
“The World Bank has donated some money to the county governments through the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Programme and the treasury gave us the mandate to train workers in its usage.”
“We have trained staff from the governor’s office as well as the assembly and it is our hope that they will utilise the fund in a way that it will have a positive impact on the residents,” said Ms Kajuju.
