Swaziland government ministries and public
institutions remain unwilling to share information about their activities, a
new report reveals.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) named
the Ministry of Home Affairs as the worst offender among many. None of the
departments and institutions surveyed had a good record.
MISA surveyed eight entities. In a report called Transparency Assessment 2017 The
Citizens’ Analysis of Government Openness
it
concluded, ‘There is still a lot of reluctance from officials responsible for
providing public information to both members of the public and media
practitioners.
‘Worse still, there are no clear lines of
communication in most of these public institutions. Government ministries have
hired information or communication officers but these public officers are paid
for doing little in terms of providing information; they do not have the authority
to respond to the queries brought to them. Only the Principal Secretaries in
the government ministries are authorised to respond to the questions directed
at the ministries.’
MISA added, ‘Information on the officials designated
to liaise with the public and the media is not even communicated through the
websites. The situation is the same in public institutions—they do not have
officials designated to provide information to information seekers.’
MISA said Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, needs a Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Bill to encourage public institutions to release
information to the public and media.
It added, ‘The study results underscore the need for
easing access to public information. It is high time that public institutions
go an extra mile and prioritise information dissemination to the public and
through the media. Government ministries should give the information and
communication officers the authority to communicate information to the public
and media because access to information is key to social, economic, political
and cultural development.’
The survey is conducted annually and MISA said results
of the 2017 study were little different from those of the previous years.
In 2007, the Swazi Parliament issued a draft bill on freedom
of information. The first objective of this bill was to
‘Encourage a culture of openness, transparency and accountability in public
bodies by providing for access to information held by these bodies in order to
enable every citizen to fully exercise and protect their constitutional right
of freedom of expression.’
To date the Bill has not been passed.
In its 2017 report, MISA said, ‘Swazi citizens
continue to be deprived of critical information through the lack of a right to
access public information. This state of affairs is in gross violation of Article
24 of the Constitution which states that a person has the “freedom to receive
ideas and information”.
MISA Swaziland has mounted an access to information
campaign in a strong bid to push for the passage of the Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Bill into law.’
See also
GOVERNMENT
SLOW TO GIVE INFORMATION
SWAZILAND
NEEDS FREE INFORMATION
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