The Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) has directed the State Department for Lands and Physical Planning to address 206 pending complaints within 60 days. This directive follows concerns over inefficiency, unresponsiveness, and delays in the department.
According to the Status of Administrative Justice and Access to Information Report (2012-2024), the Ministry of Lands has faced 392 complaints since 2019, making it the second most complained about the institution, accounting for 6.88 per cent of all grievances received. Out of the 392 cases, only 186 have been resolved, while 206 remain outstanding, some dating back 25 years.
The complaints largely involve delayed services, unresponsive officials, and inefficiencies in the department's operations. In response, the Ombudsman has instructed the department to process and resolve all pending complaints within the stipulated timeframe.
The commission has also called for the establishment of a transparent complaint-handling system to allow the public to track the progress of their cases. Additionally, the Ombudsman has recommended a full audit of land registries to improve records management and eliminate inefficiencies and alignment of the digitization of land records through the Ardhisasa platform with the existing land conversion manual to improve its effectiveness. Failure to comply with these directives may result in the Principal Secretary for Lands being declared unfit to hold public office. "The Principal Secretary should process and resolve all the pending complaints within 60 days and provide a compliance report to the Commission on the same, failure to which the Commission shall give the office holder notice to show cause as to why he should not be declared unfit to hold public office," read the Commission's statement in parts.
