But, Swaso made his mark. His Ombudsman's report for 2024 cited a lack of attention to the mental health of public officers, law enforcement personnel and service members as one of the areas that need urgent attention. He called it a human rights issue. And from the recent news reports, we know that mental illness continues to be an issue of public safety. We asked Swaso to elaborate today:
Gilbert Swaso, Ombudsman
"It is rather unfortunate particularly because I do know that the Ministry of Health and Wellness are definitely in the process of making legislation with a view to have those issues regularized. What it appears is that there are again several heads of department who are not very aware of when someone is mentally ill and when they're mentally ill how to deal with those mental illness and they continue to treat those people with that condition as if though they are normal and they are not so that's very unfortunate because as a head of department I believe there is a responsibility to every individual whether you are behaving as a normal human being should or when you display signs of disability, any disability, in this case mental disability then special attention needs to be taken in that regard. It is unfortunate that there are cases of the same mental health issue that have still not been resolved. That is unfortunate and I believe there needs to be some level courtesy placed in those issues so that people who appears to have or are certified with mental illness are taken care of as early as possible. As a matter of fact I think on the news yesterday it was evident that there are people with mental health out in the general population and if we don't take care of those with mental health issues then we'll have a snowball effect which will be to the detriment of others."
