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25 August 2016
The Kenyan National Assembly has approved the Senate’s changes to an Access to Information bill, according to an article in The Nation by John Ngiruchu and an article in The Standard by Alphonce Shiundu. The bill will now be presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta for his signature. “Most of what the Senate introduced were clarifications on […]
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21 July 2016
The Senate has passed an access to information bill. The bill now goes back to the National Assembly for consideration of changes made and expected approval, according to an article in The Nation by John Ngirachu. “Among the amendments by the Senate is a provision to have information held by a public entity or private […]
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28 April 2016
Kenya’s National Assembly on April 28 approved an Access to Information Bill on third reading, according to media accounts such as one by Alphonce Shiundu in Standard Media and one by James Mbaka in The Star. There is ongoing deliberation by a legal committee on whether it should be forwarded to the Senate for consideration or […]
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28 January 2016
The Open Government Partnership is reviewing the memberships of three member countries that have missed two deadlines to prepare national action plans (NAPs). Kenya, Malawi and Montenegro have failed for two successive years to produce action plans, a core commitment made by OGP members. The three countries could face being declared “inactive” under the OGP […]
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20 August 2015
Legislation to create an access to information law was given a first reading Aug. 19 in the Kenyan National Assembly. The step forward – amendments come during the second reading – came as the Kenyan Open Data portal reported that it has only received cooperation from from only 26 departments out of about 83, according […]
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12 August 2015
A bill on Access to Information has been submitted in the Kenyan National Assembly by Hon. Priscilla Nyokabi. The bill has been published and the next step is first reading. (For text see entry 31 in a list on Kenya’s National Assembly Bill Tracker.) Despite a constitutional provision (Article 35) guaranteeing a right to information, […]
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27 May 2015
Tanzania and several other African countries were chastised on the subject of access to information at a recent regional meeting of Open Government Partnership held May 20-21 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, however, told the delegates that he plans to sign two controversial bills — on media regulation bill and freedom of information […]
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23 October 2014
By Riva Jalipa The author is Legal Officer, ARTICLE 19–Eastern Africa. This is a chapter in a recently issued State of Right to Information in Africa Report 2014 and is reprinted with permission. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The violence that followed the 2007 general elections triggered wide–ranging debates and changes that form the basis of Kenya’s reform agenda today. […]
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25 September 2014
A draft freedom of information law for Kenya (text) has been critically reviewed critiqued by two international organizations. “Although the draft is relatively robust,” according to one analysis, “it is significantly weaker than the version which was proposed in 2012. The Attorney General submitted the draft bill, and the legislation remains under consideration in the […]
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14 August 2014
Several right to information bills are being worked on in Kenya, including one recently announced by Attorney General Githu Muigai. Muigai now has cleared the publication of that bill, according to an article in The Star. “If enacted by the National Assembly and the Senate, it will bestow the Commission on Administrative Justice its oversight […]
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16 August 2013
Very few countries disclose the contracts made with private companies to develop natural resources, but pressure for more transparency has been on the rise, as is now on display in Kenya. The Kenyan government recently cancelled contracts with mining companies over questions about their adequacy and transparency. The International Monetary Fund had been pressuring Kenya to disclose […]
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29 May 2013
The lack of a freedom of information law in Kenya is stymieing efforts to post more government data online, according to two top officials, quoted in an article in the Daily Nation and another in Africa Review “The fact that the Freedom of Information Act is yet to go through Parliament is a major bottleneck because […]
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17 May 2013
The Kenyan High Court has ruled that only citizens have a constitutional right of access to government information, preventing media groups, nongovernmental organizations and others from making requests. This outcome was criticized as a “narrow interpretation” by a Kenya-based staff person of Article 19. In the same May 13 ruling, the court deemed that the […]
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17 December 2012
The minister responsible for Kenya’s open data portal says government agencies are failing to supply necessary data, according to a report by in The Sunday Nation. “Information and Communications permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo told the Sunday Nation that the ministry was getting frustrated because of the low amount of data supplied by organizations,” according to […]
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25 May 2012
Kenya’s Constitutional Implementation Commission is continuing to draft a freedom of information bill and a data protection bill, but the process is taking longer than expected. “Too long, “ observed one person close to the process in a note to FreedomInfo.org. Once approved by the commission, the bills must be approved by the Cabinet and […]
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12 March 2012
The High Court in Kenya court has ruled that the right to information as provided for under section 35 of the Constitution is reserved only for Kenyan “citizens,” not for corporations or other entities. The court March 2 denied a request by an Indian company for documents from two Kenyan government agencies concerning a contract […]
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27 January 2012
The Kenyan Constitutional Implementation Commission has asked for further modifications of a draft freedom of information law, according to an expert who attended the meeting. A few issues proved contentious and a technical committee was asked to seek further submissions from stakeholders and to make further recommendations. Below are the main provisions on which the […]
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16 November 2011
Kenya, with a newly minted constitutional provision guaranteeing access to information, is moving toward the development of a law to implement the right. Consideration of a freedom of information bill and a data protection bill has been started by the Constitution Implementation Commission, working with civil society groups. Among those involved are the Kenya Section […]
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2 September 2011
Nine countries plus the initial core group of eight have pledged to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a U.S. official told FreedomInfo.org Sept. 2, bringing total membership to 17. The nine countries that have sent in “letters of intent” are Kenya, Guatemala, Honduras, Albania, Macedonia, Malta, Georgia, Moldova and Slovakia. More letters are expected, […]
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11 July 2011
Kenya July 8 launched a web portal offering free access to government information. There are over 160 datasets including the complete 2009 census, national budget data, nation and county public expenditure data, information on health care and school facilities. See the Data Catalog for a full list of what is available. “Today marks an important […]
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16 September 2010
The new Kenyan Constitution guarantees the right of access to information, but the question is now turning to implementation. After winning 67 percent approval in a referendum, the Constitution went into effect Aug. 28, 2010. The relevant section of the new Kenyan Constitution states: Access to information 35. (1) Every citizen has the right of […]
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26 May 2009
The “minutes” of the World Bank’s executive board meetings, released publicly, are brief notations of the official action, usually one paragraph. They reveal almost nothing about what transpired during the closed deliberations. The “summaries,” by contrast, describe the key points of discussion. They condense, without names, the comments made by the executive directors. The […]
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24 February 2004
The chairman of an international group of parliamentarians has asked the World Bank to help assure a larger role for legislatures in setting the poverty-fighting strategies within their countries. The request marks one of the first times the parliamentarians have proposed a significant and specific policy change, according to persons familiar with the group’s history. […]
