Right to Know Day around the world - Southern Africa

Organizer: Media Institute of Southern Africa
Date: September 27 - Оцтобер 06, 2007
Event: Launch of the Model Law and the Golden padlock Awards

The Media Institute of Southern Africa - MISA will join the rest of the world to observe the right to know day with events and activities in 11 countries: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania & Malawi.

Below are some of the activities and events at regional and national levels.

The MISA will among many activities and events be:

• Launching the MISA Right to Information Model Law
• Launching Golden Padlock Awards 2008 -- for the most secretive government in Southern Africa
• Regional statement on the state of Access to Information in Southern Africa
• Public lectures with Law & Media students at several colleges & universities
• Live media interviews, adverts o Popular theatre, March Pasts, distribution of advocacy materials
• Video screenings of Right to Know films from South Africa & India produced by ODAC and India CHRI respectively

To Know or Not to Know
the State of Right to Information in Southern Africa

Today, for the second year the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) joins a global coalition of freedom of Information advocates in observing the International Right to Know Day, which falls tomorrow 28 Sept. On this day our global efforts are focused on promoting the indispensability of the Right of all people to Access to Information not only as a basic human Right, but for the benefits of open, transparent and accountable governments.

The Right to Information hailed as a basis for effective participation in governance as well as potentially, a powerful tool for countering corruption has become an issue of global importance, with over 60 countries having laws guaranteeing citizens their Right to Access to Information. Of those only two countries in Africa have Access to Information laws; Uganda and South Africa, which leaves us with only one out of 11 countries in southern Africa.

Zimbabwe and Angola have not been mentioned, despite these countries having Access to Information laws. The omission is deliberate. MISA does not recognize the archaic, infamous and indeed retrogressive laws of Zimbabwe and Angola, laws that make it almost impossible for citizens to Access to Information.

MISA celebrates the Right to Information Day reflecting on the past, analyzing the present and mapping the future of the Right to Information in Southern Africa.
In comparison between the past and the present no doubt we have witnessed a region moving in line with the rest of the world in as far as the Right to Information is concerned. For instance going back to as recent as 2000, not a single African country had a Right to know legislation. Today we have something to brag about, however limited;

• Today South Africa, has one of the best Right to Information laws in the world - (it has its weaknesses, but we can live with it)
• Six countries in southern Africa have Right to Information Bills – all at different stages of legislative development.
• All eleven countries are signatories to the SADC declaration on Information, Culture & Sports which advocates for the adoption of Right to Information policies by member states
• Furthermore all 11 countries are signatories to the Africa Union Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Information
• It is safe to say that today nearly every government is beginning to feel the pressure on the call for Right to Information legislation.

Political Rhetoric & Inconsistence

However in the last 24 months, in particular, between 28 Sept 2006 & today 27 Sept 2007, nothing has moved forward, in fact we have witnessed a stagnation or perhaps cold feet from governments who started off very well, some at very advanced legislative stages, and just suddenly and unexplained they stopped the process. Among such countries are Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Lesotho and to some extent Swaziland.

This half hearted political will has become common behavior from many governments and is by far the biggest stumbling block to the advancement of Right to Information in Southern Africa. As in the words of one campaigner, “in one meeting the minister is convinced about Access to Information and in the next meeting the minister says my brother things have changed.”

In Zambia a former Minister of Information was making excuses alleging that Britain an ancient democracy had just passed their ATI law as recent as 2005, who was Zambia to be in a hurry, considering too, that only less than 5 out of 54 countries in Africa had such laws. Other excuses range from ‘we are still consulting’ to lack of resources and legal drafting capacities with governments.

MISA finds it ironic and inconsistent that southern African governments are on the one hand busy with rhetoric on zero tolerance to corruption, while at the same time failing dismally to put in place decisive legislative measures to fight it. In a continent where more than 80 percent of underdevelopment and poverty is directly linked to corruption, an ill synonymous and seemingly endemic to African political leadership, one would think that any half serious government would jump at the opportunity to establish and enact Right to Information legislation.

Research has shown the correlation between corruption and the lack of Information. It is by no coincidence that the ten most corrupt and poor nations in the world are those without the Right to Information legislation, while in contrast the ten least corrupt and most prosperous nations are those with Right to Information legislation.

MISA strongly believes that corruption can never be truly fought without the Right to Information legislation.

Perhaps you wonder what MISA really means by the Right to Information, our own research done right here in Namibia has demonstrated how little people know or understand about the Right to Information. In a pilot research which MISA carried out in Namibia and currently in the process in Malawi, people who we assumed understood Access to Information where the most ignorant.

• 75 per cent of all journalists interviewed had a vague or incorrect understandings;
• 100 per cent of MPs wrote vague or incorrect definitions;
• 85 per cent of all respondents confused Right to Information with Freedom of expression.

So what is the Right to Information then? Also referred to as freedom of Information, Access to Information or indeed the Right to know.

The Right to Know is simply the call to make Information held by public institutions and in some cases private institutions available and accessible to the public. The Right to Information is not a mere call for government records, but a call for a more transparent and accountable governance process, if democracy has to be meaningful.

MISA believes that the Right to Information must be guaranteed by a strong legislation and the process of law making must be participatory and consultative. In order for citizens to effective participate in the governance and development of their country, they should be enabled to have easy and timely Access to critical Information.

A Right to Know legislation sets out guidelines, procedures and parameters on how the public can Access Information from public and private institutions. There are international principles and standards with which Right to Information laws are measured and governed;

1. Maximum disclosure, where public bodies must disseminate Information relevant to public interest;
2. Minimum exemptions, where reasons for secrecy must be clearly and narrowly defined by laws;
3. Public interest override, where Information must be released if it threatens, among others; human Rights, public health the environment or reveals corruption
4. Simple, affordable and quick access procedures, where Information is provided at a minimum cost or no cost in order to facilitate its free flow;
5. Effective enforcement, where Freedom of Information is administered by an independent oversight body with mechanisms for appeal (CHRI 2003, OSI 2006)
   

We have many examples around the world -- in Mexico kidney patients received transplants, after filing Information requests to find out from government why they where being left to die when the constitution guaranteed that everyone shall have the right to life.

In Zambia even without the law in place, a former Minister of Information was fired earlier this year after President Mwanawasa had Access to media footage in which the Minister implicated Zambia in huge financial debts. Initially the Minister claimed he had been misquoted.

In India such stories abound on a daily basis. A 92 year old woman files for Information to find out why her passport was taking so long to be issued. The result? She not only gets her passport immediately, but the passport officer is fined substantially.

In simple words these above examples are what really the Right to Information is all about. Transparency, checks and balances, improved public service delivery and equal distribution of public resources.

MISA Position

Today on the Right to Information Day, MISA wishes to register its dissatisfaction and disappointment in the governments of Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Lesotho and Swaziland for staling the legislative process using uncalled for delay tactics. MISA demands that the Right to Information goes back on the law reform agenda without further delay.

MISA is grossly disturbed by the recent statement from the Botswana government, in which the Minister of Information claimed that Botswana did not need Access to Information legislation. This position is not only borne out of ignorance, but is retrogressive and a danger to the very foundations of democracy and good governance which Botswana is hailed for.

Further more MISA is grossly appalled by the notorious and archaic Access to Information Laws of Zimbabwe and Angola and calls for their immediate repeal.

MISA takes this opportunity to commend the South African government for guaranteeing its citizens Access to Information through enabling legislation. We appeal to the South African government to strengthen measures to publicize the law which 6 years after its enactment is hardly known or in use by majority of citizens who really need it.

MISA would also like to acknowledge the renewed political will shown by the Namibian government at the beginning of the year through the media policy which promises Access to Information legislation. MISA is therefore calling for the immediate commencement of a legislative process which has failed to take off far too many times. Good political will unaccompanied with tangible actions is good for nothing.

In observing the Right to Know day MISA wishes to launch two projects; The Right to Information Model law – The model law is MISA’s contribution to the speedy process of enacting the Right to Information laws in Southern Africa.

It is MISA’s wish that the Model law will provide insight and give guidance to drafting processes within our governments. The excuse of lack of drafting capacity within our governments is from today invalid. The Model law is open source and can even been copied word for word - without MISA’s permission.

Secondly MISA wishes to launch the Golden Padlock Awards 2008 for the most secretive government in Southern Africa. The wards will be presented next year on the Right to Know Day. The awards are to create greater public awareness on their Right to Information as well as putting pressure on governments by calling and naming. The Golden Padlock Awards will also be honored or dishonored at national levels for the most secretive public institutions. On the positive side MISA will also give the Golden Key Awards to the most open governments and public institutions at regional and national levels. For the 2008 Padlock Awards all southern African countries are automatically short listed, with an exception of South Africa because they have a law in place.

MISA takes this opportunity to officially launch the Model Law and the Golden padlock Awards.