The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is encouraging individuals who face challenges accessing public services or are denied such services to file complaints for redress at CHRAJ.
According to Deputy Commissioner Mercy Larbi, CHRAJ has the legal authority to receive and investigate complaints of this nature, taking necessary actions to address them.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, she stated, “If you have applied for a passport, for instance, and the Passport Office is unduly delaying in issuing you with the passport, or you have applied to register your land at Lands Commission and they are unduly delaying in offering you their services, you can file a complaint for us to go into the reasons for the undue delay and give you redress.”
She emphasized that many individuals are unaware of CHRAJ's mandate to address grievances related to public service delivery.
“Although the law allowed members of the public to file complaints of such nature referred to as service delivery to CHRAJ, many were not taking advantage of it, either for fear of being denied the service after reporting or they were not even aware that such avenues were available to them.”
CHRAJ's mandate is complaint-driven, meaning that action can only be taken when formal complaints are lodged. Ms. Larbi explained that upon receiving a complaint, CHRAJ assesses whether it falls within its mandate.
If it does, the complaint is forwarded to the relevant institution, which is required to respond within 10 days.
After receiving a response, CHRAJ evaluates the complaint and the response to determine appropriate action. This may include issuing directives and recommendations to improve service delivery in the concerned institution.
Importantly, she noted that CHRAJ's services are free, and individuals are not required to pay for legal services in settling complaints.
CHRAJ, established by Article 216 of the 1992 Constitution, serves as Ghana's national human rights institution, anti-corruption agency, and promotes ethics in the public sector.
Its mandate includes investigating complaints of human rights violations, corruption, breaches of public officers' code of conduct, unfair treatment by public officials, and misappropriation of funds by public officials.
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Mercy Larbi, Deputy Commissioner for CHRAJ