By Agness Changala
Access to Information (ATI) Bill Coalition member Enock Ngoma says the Access to Information Bill should be debated and assented to before Parliament goes on recess.
And Ngoma says there is a circulated ATI Bill with questionable provisions and the coalition would like to confirm if it’s the one sent to Parliament by Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe, before they can react to what the minister said.
On Wednesday, Chief government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa announced that the government had taken the ATI bill to Parliament for further consideration, ratification and enactment.
Mweetwa said this is one of the key fundamental electoral promises that President Hakainde Hichilema as opposition leader committed himself to fulfilling when he is elected into office.
He said the government is delighted to note this milestone because this will enhance the promotion of accountability and transparency in the management of affairs of public matters particularly public resources.
Mweetwa said the Bill once enacted is also going to help in the access to information which is requisite to fighting corruption.
Speaking to Daily Revelation, Ngoma who is former Media Liaison Committee (MLC) chairperson said, “…I hope that it is brought before the house quickly so that it’s debated quickly, assented to before this sitting of Parliament goes on recess. We would rather it goes this time around this year,” he said. “It is a welcome development. We just hope that it will be tabled as quickly as possible since now it’s in the hands of Parliament. And obviously our prayer is that the majority members of Parliament are going to support the Bill. That one is very important, we need the support from members of parliament.”
He said the importance of the Bill cannot be overemphasized because it will enable various stakeholders to keep credible checks and balances.
Ngoma also revealed that yesterday, the Access to Information coalition was supposed to have a press briefing to give its reaction to what the minister said.
However, the team postponed the press briefing because it wanted to find out if the ATI draft bill circulating on social media is the same one which has been taken to Parliament.
He said if it was the same one, there are issues to be resolved.
“So we want to check that it does not have some clauses which are seemingly not very good. So we want to see if it’s the actual one sent to Parliament by the Ministry of Justice. Once we do that, then we shall hold our press briefing early next week,” Ngoma said.
He said limitations like the one seen in the circulating document are not good unless they are clearly spelt out on what kind of limitations they are.
“We want to examine the limitations. We accept limitations where, for instance, matters that borders on the security of the country. Information which can’t be made public. Because you can’t access information, you go to Arakan Barracks and say I want to know how many guns you have in this Barracks. You can’t do that. Those are the limitations acceptable,” said Ngoma. “Not where information is of public importance, there should be no limitations. Unless somebody wants to hide something.
The ATI coalition committee comprises civil society organizations who have been lobbying for the ATI Act.
The chairperson of the coalition is JCTR executive director Father Alex Muyebe and the vice chairperson is Guess Nyirenda, The Operation Young Vote executive director while Ngoma is a committee member, representing the media liaison committee.
