The Media Institute of Southern Africa Botswana Chapter (MISA Botswana) has urged the government to stop delaying consideration of freedom of information legislation.
The group said in a statement that it wanted “to register its disappointment on the continued postponement of the tabling of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Draft Bill by Government.”
The chapter singled out the Minister for Information and Media, Mokgweetsi Masisi, for having “dragged the FOI issue for rather too long.”
The statement says Masisi announced last September that a government bill would be ready for debate in parliament in December 2012 or latest February 2013. This promise came after a Private Members Bill by the Gaborone Central Member of Parliament Dumelang Salishando was rejected by Parliament.
In May, the minister “changed the goal posts again and promised that the Bill will be tabled during the July sitting of Parliament.”
“When the July session of Parliament started, it was conspicuous that the Bill was not lined up for discussion once again,” the MISA Botswana said.
When Salishahndo sought an explanation, the statement says, Masisi’s deputy Dr. Gloria Somolokae “shifted the delivery date but gave no absolute timelines except to say the Bill will reach Parliament in the near future.”
“Amazingly, Mr. Masisi never bothers to explain why he perpetually fails to deliver within a period he had earlier set for himself,” the group said.
The statement concludes:
MISA Botswana and the FOI taskforce would like the Minister to honestly explain why the tabling of the FOI draft Bill is becoming a trying and strenuous exercise after all. The FOI Law is long overdue, especially now that the country has started implementing the e-Government and digital migration.
The law potentially provides an enabling environment for the two national programs. The public would rather have their Minister provide genuine and factual information than being fed with empty promises.
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