Public Protector hosts African counterparts for dispute resolution training

Public Protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane this week welcomes into the country her counterparts from all over Africa, who are here to hone their investigative and alternative dispute resolution skills in a three-day training programme to be held at Garden Court Marine Parade hotel in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. 

In her capacity as the President of an umbrella body of Public Protector-like institutions in the continent, the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA), Adv. Mkhwebane will host her peers from Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Ombudsman, Mediators and Public Protectors from all the 17 participating countries will be accompanied by staffers from their respective offices. These will largely be officials whose duties involve investigative and dispute resolution work.

The refresher course is part of AOMA's efforts to entrench a culture of good governance, respect for the rule of law and the upholding of human rights in governments across the continent. It is funded and coordinated by the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) in collaboration with AOMA's resource, the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC), which is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Howard College campus in Durban.

AORC helps Ombudsman institutions in the continent with research, information-sharing, capacity-building and advocacy. Launched in 2011, the Centre is funded by the South African government through the International Relations and Cooperation department’s African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund.

The training, which commences on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, will be led by UKZN School of Law's Prof. David McQuoid-Mason, a leading expert and scholar in mediation who has conducted training on this specialised field domestically as well as in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Fiji and Italy, among other jurisdictions.

“This exercise is in keeping with the promise I made when I took over as AOMA President last December to help realise the aspirations of the continental development plan, Agenda 2063, particularly aspects thereof which have to do with good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law, as well as peace and security,” Adv. Mkhwebane, who is also AORC Board Chairperson said ahead of the training.

"We hope that when we return home on Friday, we will be equipped with the necessary skills to tackle maladministration in our respective countries. Prof. McQuoid-Mason will lecture us in detail on the guidelines of interest-based negotiation and mediation, how to conduct these and appreciate the value thereof when resolving disputes.”

Adv. Mkhwebane will officially welcome the guests during a dinner to be held on Tuesday. She will also open the training officially on Wednesday. Journalists are invited to cover these aspects of the week's programme. Details are as follows:

Welcome Dinner

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Time: 18H00

Venue: Garden Court Marine Parade hotel

Official opening of training

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Time: 09H00

Venue: Garden Court Marine Parade hotel