Africa-Press – Angola. Ombudsman Florbela Rocha Araújo announced this Wednesday in the city of Cuito that the institution’s services have now been established in 12 of the country’s 21 provinces, making a positive contribution to the defense of citizens’ rights.
Speaking to the local press during her two-day visit to Bié, Araújo considered the expansion of services important, especially in reducing the total dependence on Luanda.
She also announced the opening of two new delegations, in the provinces of Cuanza Norte and Icolo e Bengo, later this year, aiming to provide adequate service to the population.”Until 2021, the country had only five provinces with Ombudsman services. Executive investments have enabled 12 to be established. Therefore, the challenge remains to ensure that citizens in all 21 regions of the country have institutions to defend their rights,” he added.
To this end, he requested more support from provincial governments, particularly the provision of space for the construction of infrastructure, aimed at guaranteeing citizens’ fundamental rights—political, civil, economic, and social—as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola.
Florbela Rocha Araújo also considered the public service at the locations visited to be satisfactory, namely the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), the temporary holding cell, the Cuito Prison District, and the Dr. Walter Strangway referral hospital.Meanwhile, he recommended to the local Ministry of Justice (MINNT) the rapid completion of the Cuquema prison, to provide dignity to its employees and reduce overcrowding in the Cuito District, which currently holds around 900 inmates, compared to its actual capacity of 200.
The Ombudsman’s Office is a body whose primary function is to defend and promote the rights, freedoms, guarantees, and legitimate interests of citizens through informal means, ensuring justice and the legality of the exercise of public powers without political interference.
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