Legislators poke holes into Access to Information Bill

Dodoma. The National Assembly started debating the Access to Information Bill 2016 yesterday, with Members of Parliament (MPs) requesting the government to consider at least four issues that they consider to be bad for the country.

The issues include a provision that allows information officers to withhold information if he/she believes that disclosing it will undermine national security.

Similarly, the MPs want the Bill to issue punishments in accordance with the type of the offence committed, instead of punishing offenders of the Access to Information Act in conformity with the National Security Act.

The other issues the MPs want addressed are with regard to the period that an information officer is required to avail the requested information, as well as on the appeals process for a person - who has been aggrieved by a decision by an information officer - should follow.

While Section 5 of the Bill states that every person shall have the right of access to information which is under the control of information holders, Section 6 of the same legislative piece, contradicts it.

It states that one (the information holder) will be allowed not to disclose (withhold) the information is he/she believes that the disclosure is not justified in the public interest.

Similarly, information may be withheld if one (the information holder) feels that disclosure of such information is likely to undermine the national security of the United Republic, or it will impede due process of law, or endanger safety of life of any person, it will involve unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual.

But debating the Bill here yesterday, some MPs said allowing the entire Section 6 to sail through – which also proposes a jail term of between 15 and 20 years to information officer who will disclose prohibited information – may end up reversing the goal the law wants to achieve.

“We understand that not all offences in this Bill – under Section 6 – are directly linked to National Security. That being the case, we propose that for those offences – under this Bill – that are not linked to National Security, must carry a punishment of between three and five years,” said the chairman for a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Mr Mohamed Mchengerwa.

Presenting the views for the opposition bench, Mr Abdalla Mtolea (CUF - Temeke) said approving the whole of Section 6 would be as good as saying that people’s access to information remains at the mercy of information officers.

“We all know the weakness of our investigation units within the police force and, therefore, approving a provision that empowers one to withhold information on the pretext that by doing so we will be protecting the ongoing investigation is bad. The opposition bench proposes a complete deletion of Section 6,” he said.

Ms Ruth Mollel (Chadema - Special Seats) shared similar sentiments, saying exempting people to get access to public officials’ private life will only result into the creation of bad leaders.

“We need to define the term National Security so that it is not used as conduit for unscrupulous people to hide vital information…besides, we do not have private life for public officials,” she said.

MPs also opposed a provision that gives information holders up to 30 days to make the information available to the one who had asked for it.

Section 11 (1) states: “Where access to information is requested, the information holder to which the request is made shall, within thirty days after the request is received, give written notice to the person who made the request as to whether the information exists and, if it does, whether access to the information or a part thereof shall be given.”

But, according to Mr Rashid Shangazi (Mlalo - CCM) and his Mwibara counterpart, Mr Kangi Lugola, not all information can still be useful if it is delivered 30 days after it was requested.

“I once applied for a bank loan and they said it would be approved after 15 days. I wanted it so I could pay school fees for my son within a period of five days so by the time the bank phoned me to let me know that the money is ready, I did not want it anymore….This also applies to the provision of having the information delivered after 30 days,” said Mr Lugola.

Mr Lugola and Mr Mtolea, who delivered the opposition’s views on behalf of the chief whip, Mr Tundu Lisu, took part of their time castigating the government over recent closures of two radio stations.

The government has shut down two radio stations indefinitely for allegedly airing seditious content.

Late last month, the Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Mr Nape Nnauye banned the Dar es Salaam-based Magic FM and Radio Five Arusha from airing their programmes due to what he termed as “seditious” content broadcast by Magic FM and Radio Five on August 17 and 25, respectively.

But Mr Lugola said yesterday he has always been a fan of Magic FM’s analytical style of new delivery, asking Mr Nnauye to reconsider the decision.