Minister of Information, Tourism and Civic Education Kondwani Nankhumwa has disclosed that government will table the long awaited Access to Information bill in Parliament in the next session of Parliament.
Nankhumwa disclosed this on Friday in Parliament when he was presenting ministerial statement on the status of Access to Information Bill.
“It was in government’s recognition of its importance in promoting participatory democracy that my Ministry, in conjunction with key stakeholders including some members of this August House and the media, among others started working on the Access to Information Bill in 2004.
“In 2007, a draft Bill on Access to Information was in place, ready to be tabled for debate in this house when my ministry was advised that it is a requirement that every bill has to be preceded by a policy framework and since the draft Bill had none, we had to go back on the drawing board to develop an Access to Information Policy in Conformity with Government requirement,” Nankhumwa said.
He further elaborated that government approved the NAIP in January this year whose overall goal is to have a public that is well informed to participate in national development and governance plus providing a framework for developing the Access to Information Legislation.
Section 37 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi recognizes the right to access information as a human right which every person should enjoy.
Once enacted into law the Access to Information Legislation will among other things be a practical tool to fight corruption because people have access to records of how certain decisions have been arrived at.
