MISA Botswana celebrates Right To Information Day

Correspondent | Thursday October 10, 2013 22:39

 

Once again, the Department of Information Services was named the most secretive public institution in Botswana while the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) scooped the most open public institution.

The aim of the survey was to assess the level of transparency in government and public institutions in the country. Other government institutions which were surveyed this year include, the Ministry of Education & Skills Development, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Ministry of Lands and Housing and Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources.

When commenting on public institutions' performances, the MISA Botswana National Director, Buyani Zongwani said he was disappointed by government's continued snubbing of the chapter's efforts in encouraging them to disseminate and respond to request for information.

'It is a very disturbing habit especially that the government should be able to provide information whenever a citizen asks for it. They do not even acknowledge receipt of request or invariably they will ask you why you want the information,' said Zongwani.

  The Botswana chapter released the 2013 report on the most open and the most secretive public institution in Botswana on the same day. This is the fourth year the report has been published. The release of such reports is one of the many efforts that the chapter and the MISA family have established to ensure that countries in the SADC region speed up processes of enacting access to information laws. 

Botswana is one of the countries that are undecided on what they want with regard to access to information issues at the moment.

 

ROMANG MOGAPI

Information & Research Officer at MISA