Maputo — Tuesday, 10 February 2026: In a formal ceremony attended by members of the Board of Directors and senior staff, Ombudsman Isaque Chande appointed Ms. Felismina Muhacha as Coordinator of Judicial Advisory Services, filling a vacancy that had remained open for just over a year following the appointment of the former coordinator, Mr. Mario Seuane, as Secretary-General.
Ms. Muhacha’s appointment follows a competitive selection process to fill the position. Her professional background is rooted in the administration of justice, with prior service in the Maputo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Ministry, including experience as a magistrate in Chókwè District, Gaza Province. At the time of her appointment, she was serving as an Assessor to the Ombudsman.
Addressing the gathering, Ombudsman Chande stated that the appointment comes at a time of significant institutional challenges and forms part of broader efforts to strengthen the Ombudsman’s capacity to fully deliver on its mandate of safeguarding citizens’ rights, defending legality, and promoting justice in public administration. He said he expects Ms. Muhacha to draw on her accumulated institutional knowledge to help consolidate the Ombudsman’s role as a national benchmark in the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Ombudsman Chande underscored that the new Coordinator’s responsibilities should extend beyond routine case instruction and distribution to include regular and systematic oversight of case management, including tracking case status, maintaining statistics, and monitoring the performance of assessors to improve efficiency and accelerate the resolution of citizens’ grievances. He also urged the Coordinator to strengthen structured engagement with targeted entities to ensure official communications are answered within legally stipulated time frames, including identifying institutions that consistently fail to respond promptly to Ombudsman inquiries.
Concluding his remarks, Ombudsman Chande called on all staff members to support Ms. Muhacha in her new functions, emphasizing the importance of collective responsibility in strengthening advisory services and reinforcing due process standards across the institution.
