Minister Kazako to effect Access to Information law
Minister of Information Gospel Kadzako says the long-awaited Access to Information (ATI) Act will come into force this year, declaring that the Tonse Alliance government has nothing to hide.
Kadzako said this Wednesday when he officially opened a meeting on guidelines for Access to Information Act.
He is personally attending the meeting in Lilongwe.
“As the most transparent and accountable government, this government sees no reason why the Access to Information law should not be operationalized,” he said.
He said it was high time the law becomes functional.
The ATI law has not been operational since it was passed in December 2016 and assented into law in 2017 amid reports that the former Democratic Progressive Party led government passed it into law to hoodwink some donors who wanted to withdraw aid if ATI was not passed into law.
ATI objectives include providing people access to information from information holders and duty-bearers, ensuring that public bodies disclose information they hold and providing a framework to facilitate access to information.
The law also seeks to promote routine and systemic information disclosures, provide for the protection of persons who release information on public interest and facilitate civic education on their right to access to information.
The ATI law presents an opportunity for Malawians to exercise their right to access information. Although this right is already in the Constitution, it has been impossible for the people to exercise it because of a lack of the necessary framework and procedures for doing so.
The delay in putting the Act into force has been a cause for concern for several stakeholders, including Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter who have asked government to explain the delays.
ATI has been a talking point for many years now and within less than a month Malawians are expecting the Minister to make it happen, thats ridiculous.Give a minister a space to do what is good for the ordinary people whose main concerns are basic things in life and they are majority.Bravo ,Bravo Gospel
Kadzako should not be clever to allow the operationalisation of this law because it will haunt the same government when we demand information on how they will be spending money. People like Chimwendo Banda have become overnight billionares. I dont know whether Chakwera will be ready to tell us where he got the MK35m which he divided to MPs when only one month ago he would not raise money to run campaings. I am told indians have already given him billions as gift.
Thanks Gospel, ndikukumva, komano how are you addressing the two issues:
1. Detach yourself from Zodiak – I am sure you are well read in news and I am sure you know about Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. Surely you probably have an idea what will follow him after his term of office.
2. How are going to compensate those girls you sent to China on goodwill after skin to skin therapies and most of them are suffering.
Gospel, kunena kwa muthe muthe pompano mudzitengela. Take it slow, don’t attend every meeting because some of the considerations on implementation are technical and with your diploma cannot understand why it delayed.
Go on Gospel. Dpp had many skelletons to hide that’s why they were unwilling to release information to Malawians. Tonse gvt has nothing to hide. And this is the best time to make access to information operational before people get to busness as usual.
That’s what we call peoples government. Manyazi nkhalamba ndi chipani chake chonunkha.
Ine mmanja kuti wawawawawawa
Your colleague Mark Botoman used to say the ATI would be operationilised soon and you are coming with the same tune that it will come into force this year without stating the specific date. That in itself is crookedness. Give us the exact time frame and you must tell us what will cause the delay. No politician has been straightforward – if there was any they never lasted – that is the rule of the game.Muphunzira poti mwangoyamba.
This is juist a month since this gvt came into power, phuma bwanji? Tisiyireni ife aeniake a Tonse alliance tiziwasaka tokha anyamata athuwa. Ndipo musakayike zitheka chifukwa boma ili lilibe chobisa ayi. Bottoman ndi anzake anali ndi zambiri zobisa nchifukwa chake anakanika kuliyambitsa kugwira ntchito lamuloli.
Probation yanu Honourable ikutheka