{"id":51254,"date":"2023-08-13T16:19:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-13T16:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-launches-customer-service-charter"},"modified":"2023-08-13T16:47:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T16:47:17","slug":"justice-ministry-launches-customer-service-charter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-launches-customer-service-charter","title":{"rendered":"Justice Ministry launches customer service charter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>THE Ministry of Justice has launched its Customer Service Charter, an initiative aimed at making legal services more available to the public by providing free legal advice as well as sensitizing the public to services offered by the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch of the Customer Service Charter, Minister of Justice Yvonne Dausab explained that the Institutional Customer Service Charters are translated into nine main languages, including Braille.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to start off with a famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi when he said, \u2018The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.\u2019 Public service, in its ordinary sense, is considered a service of benevolence, good work, or even philanthropy. This launch and its concomitant affirmation to be better and to do better is a collective effort of all of us,\u201d Dausab said.<\/p>\n

The Justice Minister further noted that radio programs are often full of complaints about a lack of service delivery from Public Entities and Ministries or how slow it may be.<\/p>\n

She noted that public servants, without being defensive, must use those criticisms as opportunities to improve. \u201cIt is true that many of our people are not always familiar with what we do. Thirty-three years into our independence, people not knowing about our services is not acceptable,\u201d Dausab said.<\/p>\n

She stressed that the Customer Service Charter is a public assurance and commitment by the Ministry of Justice to be a benchmark service-delivery government institution in Namibia. Dausab said that the Charter defines the transactional norms and standards between a service provider (us as a Ministry) and the would-be recipients (the public) of such a service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Charter, as defined in its framework, provides the required production capacity and the requisite delivery capability expected of the service provider. This important document conscientizes and informs the members of our society about the type and quality of services on offer, including the timelines within which they can expect the service,\u201d Dausab summarized.<\/p>\n

She further noted that Cabinet advised that the Customer Service Charter be incorporated into the Performance Management system.<\/p>\n

Highlighting other customer services, the minister said that the Ministry recently introduced an electronic system at the Directorate of Legal Aid.<\/p>\n

The Ministry, through this new system, can communicate with applicants for legal aid on issues related to their applications, such as the status of the application, by sending an SMS to the applicant\u2019s contact number. Furthermore, through this system, legal aid applications from all corners of the country will no longer have to be physically transported to Windhoek for approval. The applications are now loaded on the system at every legal aid office (primarily situated at the Magistrates Court in that district or region) in the country and get approved by the Director online.<\/p>\n\r\n