A Brief History of Access to Information (ATI) Legislation in Zambia and the ATI Coalition
Zambia’s interest in access to information (ATI) legislation can be said to begin with the recommendations of the Media Reform Committee established under the reign of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) after 1991. One of the Committee’s recommendations was the enactment of a freedom of information law. However, it was only after many years of struggle for such a law that Zambia’s hope for recognition of access to information was rekindled. A bill on access to information was introduced by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services to the National Assembly in 2002. The bill made it to a second reading. It was unfortunately withdrawn, but the text of the bill is of vital importance to the ATI legislative history in Zambia. This initiative remains the closest that Zambia ever got to having a legal guarantee to ATI.
Around this time, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were working towards the legal recognition of access to information. A private members bill was introduced by opposition parties in 2002, with the support of CSOs, but was eventually withdrawn due to the bill needing presidential consent because of its financial implications. This illustrates the passion for ATI which CSOs have demonstrated in Zambia’s past and present.
The Patriotic Front party re-ignited the debate concerning ATI in the country in 2011. One of the campaign promises which the Patriotic Front party made was that ATI legislation would be enacted during their term of office.
Animated by this new drive for ATI recognition, the Access to Information Coalition (the ATI Coalition) was constituted in 2011. It is a coalition of CSOs which has worked tirelessly towards making access to information a reality in Zambia. Through coordinated effort, CSOs in the ATI Coalition have sought to bring to fulfilment the hopes raised in Zambia for transparent government – a government that wants to invite its citizens to play an important role in building up Zambia as a strong democratic nation. It has done this through sensitisation of the public as to the importance of having access to information, through positive engagement with the government in the development of ATI legislation, by petitioning Parliament to enact ATI, as well as through dedicated research and advocacy efforts.
The Patriotic Front did not succeed in making access to information a reality for Zambia. It established a task force in 2012 with the role of drafting a bill for enactment, and in fact a bill was eventually drafted in June 2012. The country expected legislation for ATI to be in place by the end of 2012. Regrettably, this never happened. Now, more than twenty years have passed since Zambia’s hopes were raised for an access to information legislative framework.
But the New Dawn government has raised fresh hopes of legislation guaranteeing Zambians access to information. In his speech marking the opening of the first session of the 13th National
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Assembly, His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema promised that his government would “enhance media freedom and access to information by facilitating the establishment of a media self-regulatory framework, and enacting legislation on access to information.”
The United Party for National Development (UPND) has made strides towards the enactment of ATI legislation. Two validation meetings have taken place where a layman’s bill has been presented for feedback by CSOs and other important stakeholders. Both validation meetings took place at the Golden Peacock Hotel in February 2022 and in December 2022, the first and second respectively. It is understood that a final version of the layman’s bill has been prepared by the Ministry of Information and Media and had since been handed to the Ministry of Justice at the end of January 2023.
The ATI Coalition wants to ensure that all the good efforts demonstrated by the UPND towards the enactment of ATI legislation come to fruition. With this in mind, the ATI Coalition would like to present briefly certain important points as to the necessity of access to information. Secondly, the ATI Coalition would like to present its communal position on the gaps in the legislation that has been handed to the Ministry of Justice.
