During the same event, the golden key award, which is given to the most open and transparent government institution, was awarded to Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS).

The purpose of the study was to assess the level of transparency in government and public institutions in the country to help MISA’s advocacy backed by empirical evidence. The results of the survey will be used to lobby for the enactment of Access to Information law that impacts on the public’s right to access information.

Malawi, just like other MISA Chapters, commenced the study from June 20th to July 22nd, with the aim of assessing the level of transparency and openness in government and public institutions against international standards and principles on Access to Information. The study was also commenced as one way of encouraging citizens to exercise their fundamental right to access information generated, held and under the control of government institutions necessary for accessing other social economic rights.

The Malawi Chapter currently does not have a law on Access to Information. It is, therefore, hoped that the results of the right to know study would inform advocacy and interventions by MISA Malawi and civil society across the country especially on the enactment of the ATI law.

Other government departments and institutions that were sampled for the research include the Lilongwe City Council, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mzuzu City Council and Southern Region Water Board. The research adopted qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. It was conducted at two levels or categories, namely evaluation of websites of government and public Institutions, and oral and written reports/questionnaires requesting information from the institutions sampled.

In 2009 only two out of six institutions responded to written requests for information by MISA Malawi while in 2010 only three out of 10 government institutions responded.
Present at this year’s award ceremony were MISA Malawi’s Chairperson Anthony Kasunda, deputy secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Environment McCullum Sibande, Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) quality monitoring services Kanleck Chiwaula, representatives of Civil Society Organisations and journalists from various media houses.

In his opening remarks, Kasunda emphasized that the Padlock Award is not aimed at demeaning the institution involved. “…it is rather aimed at encouraging openness and transparency. We are living in a world that demands transparency and accountability, hence the need to constantly feed the public with information on various issues,” he said.

Kasunda further clarified that once the ATI law has been passed; it will not only benefit media workers, but rather anybody seeking information from public institutions.

In 2009, the golden padlock award was given to the Ministry of Health while as the golden key award was given to the Directorate of Public Procurement.

In 2010, the golden padlock award was given to the Road Traffic Department but refused to accept it on grounds that MISA Malawi’s research results did not reflect what was on the ground at the RTD. The golden Key award was given to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. //End//

Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
Official Email: reagan(@)misa.org
Private Email: reagan32002(@)yahoo.com

Back