The Sindh government has been conspicuous by its lack of response on issues raised under the Right to Information Act
KARACHI: Sindh has bravely endured poor governance and waste of state resources for over a decade. This was made possible by the ineffectiveness of at least two important pillars of transparency and accountability — the ‘Right to Information’ and the ‘Office of the Ombudsman’.
The Sindh government has been conspicuous by its lack of response on issues raised under the Right to Information Act. Passed in 2017, the government defanged the Act by not appointing the mandatory Information Commission which ought to have been established in the first 100 days. Finally a paper version of an Information Commission was established after 14 months in May 2018. However, the public till today has no way of knowing who, where and how to contact this invisible and lifeless Information Commission.
Appointed in 2008, on an apparently ‘cradle to grave’ contract, the Sindh Provincial Ombudsman continues to occupy his seat till today. The Sindh Ombudsman Act of 1991 clearly stipulates that the Ombudsman shall hold office for a period of four years and shall not be eligible for any extension under any circumstances. However, at the end of his first four-year term in 2012, the law was modified to give a second four-year extension. A third extension for another four years was gifted in 2016. Appointed through questionable and unending extensions, such an ombudsman can hardly be expected to prefer complainants to those who have kept him going on the post for more than 10 years.
Could I request the new Sindh governor and the chief minister to please correct these two anomalies — resurrect the information commission and appoint a fresh ombudsmen whose term will not be extended beyond four years.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2018.
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