Salutations
- Mrs Mwenya Kaela Bwalya, Permanent Secretary Legal, Ministry of Justice, who is representing the Honorable Minister;
- Hon. Clement Andeleki, Member of Parliamant for Katombora Constituency and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal, Human Rights and Democracy;
- Prof. Anne Sikwibele, Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Zambia;
- His Excellency Mr. Michael Gonzales, US Ambassador to Zambia;
- Her Excellency Ms. Saana Halinen, Finish Ambassador to Zambia;
- Mr. Rueben Lifuka, Global Vice Chair of Transparency International;
- Mr. Austin Kayanda, MISA Zambia Chapter President;
- Other senior government officials who may be present;
- Representatives of Cooperating Partners;
- Heads and representatives of civil society organizations;
- Our all-weather friends from the media;
- Distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
It is my honour and pleasure to welcome you all to this very special event, where we are continuing the public discourse on the very pertinent issue of the Access to Information Bill. The simple question we would like to explore tonight is “Where are we”, and we have a very competent panel and equally competent moderator, who will help us to hopefully find an answer to that question.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. The issue of enacting the Access to Information law is one that has been on our collective lips for well over two decades now, and it is a stain on our collective conscious as a country that to date, we still have not enacted this important piece of legislation. The case for an Access to Information law is and has always been a compelling one, and in many respects, it has already been made. From enhancing the participation of citizens in democratic processes, to actualizing our resolve as a country to have an open, transparent and accountable governance architecture, the importance of having such a law is a boat that sailed a long time ago. So when it comes to the Access to Information discourse, the what or why does not appear to be the issue. Rather it is the “how and when” that seems to be the tough nut to crack, and it is our hope as TI-Z that the discussion tonight will help us get some clarity on this.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Over the course of the last two decades or so, we have had successive governments making very good pronouncements and commitments to enact this law. Unfortunately, as at this evening, those pronouncements have remained in the peripheral realm of political rhetoric. Allow me to repeat the challenge that we as TI-Z have repeatedly thrown to the UPND administration: please be the administration that ultimately gives this gift to the Zambian people because posterity will judge you well. We do take cognizance of some of the measures that the government has taken in a bid to bring the Access to Information law closer to reality, but until that reality actually materializes, we reserve our right to remain skeptical because we have been on this road for far too long.
As I conclude, I’d like to reiterate our hope as TI-Z that the discussion tonight will give greater impetus to the quest to enact the Access to Information law. Ultimately, it is our hope that a concrete and comprehensive framework that will ensure that this important law is actualized will be put in place. We are keen to tick this particular item off the list of promises that we were told to be ticking off by none other than His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema.
Thank you very much, and I wish you all a very productive evening.
