Gambia

The creation of the Office of the Ombudsman was initiated by His Excellency the President, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh. This is to his credit because there was no Ombudsman office in either the colonial period or the First Republic which lasted for 33 years. The President was all out to ensure good governance through accountability, transparency, probity and the fight against corruption. His intention is clearly manifested in his speech at the opening workshop on developing the role of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Gambia. He said: “There was a dire need to produce a system of appeal equivalent to that found in the judicial system. The right to appeal to high authorities is the most important process for rectifying erroneous decisions. Moreover, the traditional controls over Government bureaucracy, that is the legislature and the courts, have proved inadequate avenues of redress for the citizen against the might of that bureaucracy.