Article By: Lloyd M’bwana
Malawi National Assembly through Parliamentary Committee on Media and Communication has vehemently indicated that will critically analyze the much awaited Access to Information (ATI) bill before tabling in a bid to consolidate pertinent ideas for meeting the general public interests.
The assurance comes just few days after President Peter Mutharika endorsed the ATI draft bill on February 12, 2016, hopefully ready for enactment into law in the forthcoming seating of the national assembly slated for Monday, February 22.
This long-anticipated endorsement is a huge relief to the media practitioners, civil society organization, human rights activists, development partners and the general public following vigorous attempts calling government to pass the bill into the law since 2003.
Addressing the news conference on Friday, February 19, in the capital Lilongwe which Malawi Chapter of Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Malawi) in collaboration with Journalists Union of Malawi (JUMA), Citizen For Justice (CFJ) and Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) organized, Geoffrey Munkhondia, Vice Chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Media and Communication assured the general public that the committee will scrutinize the bill with expectation to meet the people of Malawi needs in taking public officers to task on service provision.
Munkhondia hinted that all stakeholders will be invited for their input before the final draft bill is table in Parliament to have a comprehensive law which will appeal the nation’s interests. “It’s good that cabinet has finally indorsed the ATI draft bill after a long battle. We have been waiting for this moment therefore the
General public is assured of total scrutiny over it. We will call for input from all concerned citizens before the final draft is tabled in the August House.
“It’s a responsibility of every Malawian to make sure that the law appeals to our needs not to individuals. This is the reason the committee requires much needed support during and after the bill is tabled in Parliament that the President must finally asset to it as a law”, urges Munkhondia.
The Maravi Post caught up with Thom Khanje, Misa Malawi Chairperson who commended government for giving the bill green light after a long battle saying the move was a demonstration of commitment to transparency and accountability which were vital in promoting good governance and sustainable development.
“We therefore would like to take this opportunity to appeal to government to conclude the commendable work done; publishing the approved bill in the gazette and its tabling in the forthcoming sitting of Parliament. We believe that the gazette will enable Malawians appreciate the contents of the bill considering the fact that the cabinet reject the bill in November 2015 for alleged inconsistencies”, observed Khanje.
Echoing on the same, Reinford Mwangonde, CFJ Executive Director said the step the President Peter Mutharika administration has taken was going to inspire citizens and stakeholders of implementing campaign promises including enactment of the ATI bill.
“It will also elevate Malawian’s standing at the international stage as a champion of good governance and constitutional order and also fulfill our commitment to a number of international instruments and principles including the Open Government Partnership (OGP) which we signed in 2012.
“One of the key commitments under the draft OGP National Action Plan is ATI without which it would be meaningless to talk about OGP and citizen empowerment and access to information improving the quality of development and governance outcomes which OGP promotes. Whatever the case we won’t stop pushing for this important legislation because we believe that this law will help strengthen our democracy and foster meaningful participatory and sustainable development”, challenges Mwangonde.
In November 2015, Malawi’s donors including European Union ( EU) and World Bank set 20 conditions for the resumption of direct budgetary support to the nation among others was passing of ATI bill by March 31, 2016 which President Mutharika hinted that would not table the bill just to please the public.
