The government of Zambia says a freedom of information bill will be submitted in June, continuing a pattern of delay in unveiling a bill.
In December, a key Zambian minister promised that a bill would be presented to Parliament in the first quarter of 2013, according to a newspaper report. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
Now the same minister — Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Kennedy Sakeni – is quoted in the Lusaka Times of Feb. 27 saying that a FOI bill will be presented to Parliament in the third session of the eleventh national assembly in June.
“There are some procedures that must be followed before presenting a bill to Parliament and this legislative process takes a bit of time to conclude, but we are convinced that the FOI will be tabled in the next sitting of Parliament,” he told the newspaper.
The newspaper reported further:
Mr Sakeni who is also chief Government spokesperson said had it not been for the lengthy consolidation procedure, the FOI would have been presented in the ongoing session that commenced sitting last week.
He urged members of the public to remain patient as the Government was committed to ensuring FOI is implemented.
Some media bodies recently expressed concern over Governments delayed decision to present the FOI to Parliament.
MISA Zambia chapter chairperson Nalumino Nalumino said the organisation was concerned that the Government had not yet been presented the FOI to Parliament.
Mr Nalumino said the chapter had for a long time been championing calls for the freedom of information and desires to see the FOI implemented as soon as possible.
Comments left on the newspaper site were skeptical, one saying in part: “Sitiza kaibala sure. This bill was supposed to b giving to the public by Malupenga last year June. Since then it has grown both legs and wings. Is it stil going to ever b giving to the public for imput as earlier intended?”
The Zambia government on June 25, 2012, postponed a planned June 26, 2012, unveiling of a FOI bill, citing scheduling difficulties in getting approval for the bill by the Attorney General. The bill was developed by a task force of government and non-government representatives. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
Filed under: What's New