- Saleshando first presented Bill in 2010 but President led its rejection as the then presidential affairs minister
- Says presenting info Bill alongside Data Protection Bill is designed to limit access to information
BONGANI MALUNGA
The leader of Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dumelang Saleshando, has questioned the manner in which the Access to Information Bill has been accelerated through a Certificate of Urgency.
Saleshando, who is the MP for Maun West, holds that a Bill that is 14 years in the making should be given much public scrutiny and not to be accelerated.
The Bill, which was published on 26 July, is already at Committee Stage.
Saleshando is against presenting the Access to Information Bill simultaneously with the Data Protection Bill because the latter Bill may have restrictions on what information can be presented for public consumption.
14 years later
The BCP president first tabled what was then called the Freedom of Information Bill in 2010 but it was rejected. Its rejection was led by then Minister of Presidential Affairs Mokgweetsi Masisi according to Saleshando.
“I had come up with what was called Private Members Bill in 2010 and the government refused,” Saleshando said in an interview. “It was rejected by then Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mokgweetsi Masisi.
“Back then he said they were at an advanced stage to introduce a law that they had already planned. We now know he was not telling the truth because it has taken them 14 years, which demonstrates the attitude of the BDP.
“They have a monopoly on making laws”
“They have a monopoly on making laws. A party that struggles to get more than 50 percent of the vote should never behave in a manner that suggests that this is a Bill that they came up with on their own.
“What is disturbing for me is that it is being done in a rush. A law is supposed to be given 30 days whereby it is gazetted for public appreciation and scrutiny.
“But the government has decided that after waiting for 14 years, they cannot allow society to look at the proposed law in detail, hence it was presented on a Certificate of Urgency.
Injustice
“You can’t make people wait for 14 years and then state that a Bill is urgent and cannot be given the necessary 30-day period to appreciate it. This is an injustice because such a critical law deserves more time for evaluation.
“If you look closely, in some instances it is going to remain difficult to access certain information. Some aspects are reserved under the pretext of security reasons and left hanging.
“We can put it to a test, I would urge someone to look at other countries where Cabinet meetings have a timeframe in which they are declassified and people can access Cabinet minutes after a certain period.
First-ever Cabinet meeting
“But in Botswana, getting access to Cabinet minutes of the first-ever Cabinet meeting chaired by President Seretse Khama is impossible. This law is not going to unlock some of those doors.”
The BCP leader is concerned that the Data Protection Bill could place more limitations on which information can be accessed and which will be kept classified.
“The info Bill is being forwarded at a time when the government wants to redo the Data Protection law to come up with stiffer penalties.
“Their thinking is that if you are going to have access to information, let’s also make sure that it is difficult to get certain information and have laws that threaten punitive charges for those exposing the information.
“It is not done in good faith because you cannot allow access to information and counter that by tightening the screws. Of course, data needs to be protected but the problem is that the action is necessitated by countering what one law is giving.”