Vision
Excellence in administrative justice and respect for human rights in the public sector.
Mission
The Office of the Ombudsman is determined to carry out its role as an instrument of administrative justice and human rights with utmost transparency. It will remain firm to its task of promoting fairness and the rights of ordinary individuals in the administrative process of The Gambia .
This task will be diligently carried through without partiality to any Government institution, and investigations will continue to be conducted with the vigour and fearlessness with which this Office was charged since its inception.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The Institution’s main objectives are:
To subject Government’s use of power to close scrutiny and so help create an environment within the civil sector in which public officers, irrespective of their hierarchy, would refrain from unjust procedures.
To play the balancing act not only to enable public servants to understand how they can do their job better and thereby improve the standard of services to the public, but also to enhance the public understanding why Government takes certain decisions.
To dispense administrative justice through protocols that evolve to ensure fair, reasonable, expeditious administration of the Public Sector by using the reactive model, that is, wait for complaints and act on them, and the proactive model, that is, seek out matters of concern and initiate investigations.
To put civility, reasonableness and procedural fairness at the centre stage of public officers’ dealings with the citizen.
To be accessible and responsive to the interests and complaints of all persons particularly those who are vulnerable to unfairness such as the poor, the physically handicapped, the incarcerated, the young, the old and women.
To be seen to be transparent and, where necessary, make public the findings and recommendations of its investigation.
STRATEGY
Objectives will be achieved by but not limited to the following means:
Ensuring a culture of respect for the rights and obligations of all people in The Gambia.
Dispensing and promoting justice in a free, informal and relatively expeditious manner.
Ensuring fairness, efficiency, transparency, accountability and application of best practices.
Using a well-trained motivated workforce and the most modern technology.
Ensuring that the Ombudsman services are easily and freely accessible to all people in The Gambia.
Creating awareness for the public to understand the role and functions of the Ombudsman.
In carrying out all these activities the Office of the Ombudsman will be guided by the need for impartiality and independence and the importance of collaborating with other Government institutions as well as civil society.