President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced today, that in order to align governance with public sentiments, a Citizens' Complaints Bureau, which provides 24 hour service, will be set up at the President's Office.
The President announced this during the annual presidential address delivered today in parliament. In his address, the President said that the decision to establish the Citizens' Complaints Bureau had been made so as ensure public concerns are addressed as effectively as possible.
The main responsibility of the bureau will be to manage, through a digital system, complaints submitted by the public via letters, email, GEMS messaging platform, phone calls, social media and other platforms.
The bureau will then seek information regarding the complaints from relevant government institutions and respond to the complainant. The bureau will manage complaints, the President said, adding that a state-of-the-art AI assisted automated digital system will be established.
Complaints submitted through various platforms will be recorded on this system, he explained. Each complaint can be tracked on the system until it reaches a resolution.
The bureau will also have a 24-hour call centre, according to the President.
The Citizens' Complaints Bureau's digital system will also be used at other government institutions to manage complaints submitted directly to them, the President noted.
With this, complaints submitted to all government institutions will be managed through 'one single complaints management mechanism', the President said.
The Citizens' Complaints Bureau will be an overarching authority that monitors and holds accountable other government institutions on how they address complaints submitted to them, the President said.
Instead of new hires for the bureau, it will be staffed with those already employed in the President's Office and various government offices, President Muizzu said.
Appropriate staff are to be selected from amongst these employees, who will then be given necessary training.
The President announced that the Citizens' Complaints Bureau will be established within the next five months.
