Tonga appoints first ombudsman

TONGA – Tonga can finally say it has an Ombudsman after years of legislative preparation.

A changeover from a Commissioner for Public relations to an Ombudsman was a “coming of age” for Tonga, the kingdom’s first Ombudsman ‘Aisea Taumoepeau SC, said at a function to mark the establishment of his office in Nuku‘alofa last week.

In 2014 former Justice Minister and Attorney-General, ‘Aisea Taumoepeau, was appointed Commissioner for Public Relations to oversee good governance.

Last December legislative changes were made to transform Taumoepeau into the country’s first Ombudsman.

Under the laws his office can now independently investigate areas of government administration, either initiated by public complaint or by his own volition.

“The law was amended and there was a few things changed. One of those changes was the change of the name, putting it on equal par as the other international offices who do ombudsman work,” Taumoepeau told RNZI.

“It is not just the change of name, there are also bigger changes. For instance, there is a change of the authority that appoints the ombudsman. Before it was the cabinet.

“But last year it changed altogether to the Legislative Assembly and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. This is a big change as far as we are concerned because it means we are more independent of people who may want to interfere with the job that we do because we are actually investigating public officers, including ministers.

“In New Zealand the work of the ombudsman includes the Freedom of Information area and other additional functions. With us here, our basic function still remains within the classical function of the ombudsman. There are proposals for additional things in the future but we will wait for that to happen.

With the official launch of the ombudsman’s office, a website has also been established.

“That is a big thing for us. Launching the website, it gives information to people. Our operation in the past has been a very private operation. We deal with people and we were not allowed by law, to divulge the information to anyone but now we are freed up on that.

“One of the reasons why decided to put up the website, it not only gives information of what we do and who we are etcetera, but we can also, in the future, publicise specific matters or work that we might see to be beneficial to the public.

“The Ombudsman is not about politics, it is not about power, it is about efficient service and good governance; making sure all Tongans are accorded fairness – that the Rule of Law is maintained and for Tongans to live in harmony,” Taumoepeau said.

- PNC sources