By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The Open Society Platform the Gambia (OSPG) organised a stakeholder meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and media practitioners to review the recently passed Access to Information Act, 2021 (the ATI Act) at the New Metzy Hotel on 22nd October 2021.
The event was supported by the National Development Institute (NDI) and featured the theme “credible information is vital for democracy and good governance”.
Mr Jadama of the OSPG informed delegates in attendance that “with the enactment of this law, the Gambia is now two points away from being a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP)”. The OGP is an international initiative which “aims to secure concrete commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”.
Earlier this year Gainako reported that the Gambia ranks 110 out of 117 Countries for the 2019 Open Budget Survey which assesses how transparent Government’s are with budget information and civilian participation in the budget formulation process. Having enacted the ATI Act, the Gambia’s score is certainly expected to go up in subsequent years.
President Adama Barrow assented to the ATI Act on 8th August 2021 which provides “for the right to access public records and information held by public authorities or by [any] person providing services for them, to provide for the procedure to obtain access to that information, and for connected purposes.”
Mr Raymond of the NDI notes that “by the enactment of this law the Gambia has now completed a cycle of countries in West African Anglophone who have passed the Access to Information Law. Before now the Gambia was the only country that was yet to make that push” he said.
Mr Raymond informed stakeholders that after reviewing the law he found it very progressive. However, he warned delegates that “the operationalisation of the law is another step. To have a law like this is one step but making the law work is the next step”.
“If you sit back and think that by just passing the law [all your] expectations will be met. If you go into the details to review that law you will find that what you are doing right now is the very first step and you have to put pressure on the authorities to ensure that certain aspects that are still pending are addressed. There are a couple of things that need to be done to make the law to be effective. Those steps as we speak are not yet in place.”
“So, this is the beginning of that process that will encourage the authorities to do the needful so that the law that has been put in place will not just become a document that we are celebrating but its effectiveness is being called into question”, said Mr Raymond.
The discussion featured a presentation by OSPG’s Mr Jadama who reviewed the Act and allowed for participants to make recommendations to facilitate the implementation of the Act. During the exchange, participants noted the importance of provision 61 Implementation Plan and provision 62 Publication of Information Manual in the Act which provides for the legislation to come into effect within a maximum of two years after commencement of the Act.
According to the document shared at the meeting the Access to Information Act, 2021 was “assented to by the President, this 8th day of August 2021” and Gazetted on 18th August 2021.
Provision 61 Implementation Plan (1) provides for “every public body and relevant private body shall submit an implementation plan to the Commission within eighteen months of the commencing of this Act, or within six months of the establishment of the body, whichever is the earlier”.
Therefore, if the Act was assented to on 8th August 2021, then by 8th February 2023 public bodies should submit their implementation plan to the Commission if the Commission is not established earlier.
Further to this provision 62 Publication of Information Manual (1) mandates that “within two years of commencement of this Act, or within six months of the establishment of the body, whichever is the earlier, all information holders must prepare information manuals to be widely disseminated”.
Therefore, by 8th August 2023 all “information holders” should disseminate “information manuals” to the public. According to the Act, an information holder means a public body.
There was significant discussion on the above topics which highlights that there is some way to go for the ATI Act to come into full effect.
During the review of the Act delegates from one of the groups noted that provision 48 Independence of the Commission mandates that “the Commission shall be – (a) independent and autonomous; and (b) accountable only to the National Assembly for the execution of its mandate, operations and performance”.
However, this is in contradiction with provision 80 Regulations which provides that “the Minister [of Information] may make regulations for carrying into effect the purposes of the provisions of this Act in consultation with the Commission.
Some delegates opined that the Minister of Justice should be the Minister in charge, others opined that the Commission should be answerable only to the National Assembly. A consensus was not reached on this point.
You can watch the entire event on the link below.
Live: CSOs & Media Roundtable Operationalization of the Access to Information Act, 2021.