Access to Information Act to benefit all – Misa-Malawi
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi Chapter has called on citizens to has emphasized to familiarize itself with the Access to Information (ATI) Act to fully utilize its benefits.
Misa-Malawi Chairperson, Taleza Ndanga, was speaking in Mulanje District on Monday when the organization held a sensitization meeting on the recently enacted ATI Act with the district’s Executive Committee (DEC) and selected local level actors to lure them into appreciating the importance of the legislature.
She said: “Just because the law has been championed by journalists, people think it’s a law only to do with journalists. While journalists will benefit from the Act, the general public stands to benefit more, because they can access any information they need for the enjoyment of a particular right.”
Ndanga added that once in practice, the Act will also remove fear from people in holding public officers accountable and in the same way, foster development.
She said: “In some districts where we have visited, we found that people are scared to ask for even the basic information. With the coming of this Act however, it’s different. People can now ask, for example, how much money they received as Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and follow up how it has been spent.”
Ndanga then disclosed that this is why as Misa-Malawi, they plan to visit selected villages across the country and sensitize them on the same.
“Right now, as we continue to push for the commencement date of the Act from the Minister of Information, we plan to sensitize people that are going to benefit from the law and also public officers that are going to provide the information,” she said.
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