By Brian Longwe
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi government says it has set its roadmap to implement Access to Information Act (ATIA) in as far as making public information readily available to all locals on grassroots levels is concerned.
The government made these sentiments on Wednesday during a two day workshop organised by the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) in the Capital City Lilongwe.
The workshop which brought together Heads of government ministries, departments and agencies, aimed at orienting the information holders on the Access to Information Act (ATIA).
Secretary for Human Resource Management for Government Hilario Chimota who represented the Chief Secretary to the government during the conference disclosed that financial incapability is the major challenge that is slowing the progress in implementating the Act.
Chimota explained that when passed into law, ATIA will enable local citizens to access information from government offices efficiently as guided by sections of the law.
Malawi Human Rights Commission the main actor in the pushing of the law, is undertaking activities such as; raising public awareness of the law, provide awareness to information holders, receive complaints and review decisions of stakeholders, and track and report information flaws, to mention a few.
In an interview, MHRC Chairperson Justin Dzonzi disclosed that the commission will need over 400 million Malawi Kwacha to accomplish the implementation of the law.
He said, “We are doing all this with help from the Malawi government, and other donor aids including United Nations. All we need is to make democracy effective in our country, and access to information is one of the areas that enhance good governance by holding those in authority transparent and accountable.”
Misa Malawi, the umbrella body of all media institutions in the country appreciated the progress made by government stakeholders in implementing the law attributing that media practitioners will benefit much from the law.
However, Misa Chairperson Teressa ndanga said her institution will make sure that right to privacy of the information holders is respected, journalists will not tolerate negative whistle blowing (tip-off) practices and unprofessional reporting, among others.
