Section 6 (1) of the Ombudsman Act obliges the Ombudsman to submit an annual report (and any special reports) to the Speaker of the National Assembly. The Act is, however, not explicit on the need for the report to be discussed by the legislature. It is unclear whether these reports are consistently discussed and considered by Parliament in practice. 

The SCA encourages the Ombudsman to continue to advocate for amendments to its enabling law to clearly establish a procedure by which its reports are discussed and considered by the legislature, including an obligation on relevant authorities to respond to its recommendations within a reasonable time. 

The SCA refers to its General Observation 1.11 on ‘Annual reports of NHRIs’.