Bureaucracy delaying transfer of political ombudsman office to electoral commission – Chuck

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck says efforts to get the office of the political ombudsman subsumed into the Electoral Commission of Jamaica have been stalled for several months because of bureaucracy.

“For the last two or three months it has been doing musical chairs, but I'm hoping that it will be done in due course,” the minister said.

He was speaking at Wednesday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew.

Chuck said that the Cabinet submission to get it done was put together.

However, he said that the document has since had to go to multiple stakeholders, the Attorney-General's Chambers, and law reform before getting back to his office for sign-off and then to Cabinet.

“I'm a little disappointed that my commitment to have the political ombudsman subsumed into the electoral commission has not been done,” he said.

Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown's appointment came to an end in November 2022, after a five-year term.

- Kimone Francis 

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