Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs most secretive, survey reveals
Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Justice, Dk. Harrison Mwakyembe.
What you need to know:
- The findings released on Wednesday titled “2016 Report on Open and Secretive Public Institutions in Tanzania” compiled by the Tanzanian chapter of the institute (Misa-Tan), indicate that the ministry, which was among eight public institution surveyed received the 2016 Golden Padlock Award for failure to meet recommended standards in the disclosure of public information.
Dar es Salaam. The ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs is the most secretive among public institutions according to a surveyed conducted this year by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa).
The findings released on Wednesday titled “2016 Report on Open and Secretive Public Institutions in Tanzania” compiled by the Tanzanian chapter of the institute (Misa-Tan), indicate that the ministry, which was among eight public institution surveyed received the 2016 Golden Padlock Award for failure to meet recommended standards in the disclosure of public information.
Other public institutions surveyed this year include the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), ministry of Finance and Planning (MoF), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) and ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI). Others were the ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) and National Housing Corporation (NHC).
“The goal was to find out which one of the most open institutions was actually the ‘most open’. Osha, a recently-established public agency picked by the researcher to see how it compared to established ones, a statement released by Misa-Tan on Wednesday read in part.
The most open institution turned out to be TRA. Its website was found to be amply supplied with information, especially information relevant to taxpayers. The website also provides details on the procedures of remitting taxes. “The site provides a ‘feedback’ option which allows for sending direct feedback to the institution. It has links to several social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker,” the report stated.
When a request for information was sent TRA officials responded in four days after receiving the information request. On the contrary the ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs failed to reply to a request for information within 21 days.
The study, which was conducted between July, 4 and July 26, 2016, targeting seven institutions that had been named the most open institutions in Tanzania in 2009.
