'Infrastructure vital in FoI implementation'

'Infrastructure vital in FoI implementation'
By Mwila Chansa and Maluba Jere
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]

VISITING United States media law expert Kevin Goldberg has said proper infrastructure is cardinal in ensuring the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information law. And Goldberg said the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, if enacted would not solve all the problems faced by the media.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on the Press Freedom Committee of The Post (PFC) on Wednesday, Goldberg said inadequate infrastructure had proved to be a challenge in implementing the free flow of information law in his country.

He said while freedom of information was a good law, it had its own problems in terms of delays in releasing information requested adding that journalists should put that factor into consideration even as they advocated for the law.

“Delay is one of the problems since reporters are not the largest users of information. Like in the United States, it will take twenty days to respond to your query so you need the right infrastructure in place,” he said.

Goldberg added that Freedom of Information offices in the US were not properly funded and lacked the necessary technology to respond to queries electronically so as to minimise delays.

He said in his country most users of the freedom of information law were those that did not have strict deadlines and that the law had worked well in reviewing government’s performance in responding to issues.
And Goldberg said if leaders had nothing to hide, they should freely give information to their citizens.

PFC Secretary General, Sheikh Chifuwe observed that some leaders had a lot to hide and that as things stood, they were not accountable.
Goldberg advised the Zambian media to educate the public on the importance of the FOI.
He said the FOI Act was not exclusively for the media but the public too.
And during a media workshop on Freedom of Information at the American Centre yesterday, Goldberg said access to government records was the most guaranteed ethics saying it was nearly impossible to misquote a written document.

“If say the government doesn’t like what you’ve written, they can get the same document and verify. They have every right to do that,” he said. “Unlike when you rely on people you may make mistakes but if you quote a written document then you can’t misquote and that protects against unethical behaviour.”

He also said Freedom of Information was the right of the public saying people had the right to know what goes on in the country.
Goldberg said secrecy bred mistrust and that openness and transparency limits corruption.
“A country cannot be truly democratic unless it has the full participation of all, in this case, the FOI needs not to be a secret,” said Goldberg. “Sunlight is the best of disinfections. Information is power and holding it back is denying people power.”