Maravi

Let's mount pressure on govt

Let's mount pressure on govt
By Editor
Saturday September 29, 2007 [09:00]

It is very sad that Zambia is still among the many nations of the world that have continued to resist information access legislation.

We find it very hard to understand why on one hand our political leaders want to cling to the rhetoric of democracy and transparency, yet they are on the other hand still vehemently denying the people of Zambia laws that will surely make our society more open.

It is ironic that while Zambia has been celebrated as one of the pioneers of democracy in Africa, it is not yet among the over seventy countries of the world that have implemented some form of information access or freedom of information legislation.

Being a democracy that we passionately profess to be, we think that we should have found it easy as a nation to freely accept the principle of openness, the spirit of transparency and ensure that laws are put in place so as to allow effective public scrutiny and oversight over the operations of our government and its agencies or agents.

Instead of promoting legislation that supports openness and transparency, what we have been seeing is that those in government have been trying all means to legitimise the delay in implementation of such laws on the basis of state or national security concern.

And the government is so far performing very well when it comes to its ability to shift goal posts over the subject of freedom of information legislation. Initially, considerations hinged primarily on security concerns. Recently, the government has been drumming into our ears its concerns of professionalism. Well, nobody denies that these concerns bear merit. As a matter of fact, the concerns have always been there and, in our view, they have been adequately taken care of.

We need not emphasise that freedom of information legislation is a necessity if our government system is to be truly open and to be beneficially transparent. We have stated it many times that an open government is a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice.

And there can be no better way of testing a government's commitment to democratic practice and openness than through the passing of freedom of information legislation, which at the moment has stalled at the instigation of the government.

Up to now, we have failed to fully appreciate the real reasons behind the hide-and-seek approach by the government on the freedom of information Bill.

But we must begin to understand the negative consequences of such an approach from the government. These laws, contrary to the myopic view of most of our political leaders, are not just there in order to provide an opportunity for journalists to maliciously scandalise the government or its officers.

These laws are a necessity towards the full functioning of our democracy. These laws are required to ensure that transparency is adopted as a means of holding public officials accountable and in our fight against the endemic scourge of corruption.

In our opinion, freedom of information legislation is non-negotiable because we know that it is only when a government system is open that there is less opportunity for unscrupulous public officers to abuse the system in their own interest.

This is why it is regrettable that Zambia is not yet among the seventy countries around the world that have put in place freedom of information legislation. Yet as a democracy, we expect that we should be embracing with a lot of ease the people's right to know what our government does and how the government does whatever it does on behalf of the people.

We are aware that yesterday, September 28, was the date of the observance of the Right to Information Day, on which we recognise freedom of information laws that give the public insight into the business of government.

And if we are truly committed to democracy as a nation, we fail to understand why it should be difficult to allow, through legislation, the people to have means and ways of checking on the government's activities.

Let us always bear in our minds that ensuring that people are allowed to exercise their right to know can result in a more open and transparent government, which ultimately leads to proper decision making at the different levels of government. In short, what we are saying is that letting the sun shine on government places true power in the hands of the people, where it rightly belongs.

It cannot be denied that empowering the public or the people with the right to information will eventually lead to a responsive and responsible government. The people of Zambia can only meaningfully participate in the governance of the country if they have enough information on what is exactly taking place in the government system.

And we believe that the people of Zambia have a right to actively participate in the governance of their country because they have an important role in helping to shape government policies and programmes. But they can only do so if they are equipped with the right information. And they can only have access to the right information if there is progressive legislation such as information access laws.

There is no way that the people of Zambia can take part effectively in the governance of their country if they have limited access to information. We need to start making progress by taking quantum leaps towards the road to information access legislation.

Again, we have to say that it is regrettable that despite the United Nations having declared access to information a fundamental right, there are still some countries like Zambia, which continue to be elusive and dodgy in terms of commitment to this very fundamental right.

For this very reason, we urge the people of Zambia to continue mounting pressure on our government for it to take back to Parliament the withdrawn freedom of information Bill because we have waited for too long for this law and we cannot allow the government to continue sitting on our fundamental rights.

Labels: EDITORIAL, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL

posted by MrK @ 9:10 PM