Bill should jump the queue

Spearheaded by Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) civil society succeeded having a bill on access to information tabled in parliament. The continued efforts are now focused on influencing the content of the bill and have it jump the queue of other bills waiting to be passed into law

Members of parliament have consulted civil society to solicit ideas on what they feel is missing out from the Access to Information Bill 2004 presented to parliament by the minister of state for Information, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo.

The consultative meeting took place in May 2004 at Hotel Africana in Kampala and was attended by several members of parliament. The Coalition on Freedom of Information (COFI), a pressure group of concerned civil society organisations formed after the Anti Corruption Week 2003, presented the guiding principles for an internationally recognised standard of the access to information law. Gaps in the draft bill were identified, several views were shared and input made on what parliament should put into consideration once deliberations on the bill begin.

The bill is waiting in a long queue at the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee where it was referred for scrutiny. Speaking during the consultative meeting, the information minister urged civil society to put pressure on the concerned parliamentary committee to give priority to the access to information bill.

The opinion of the vice chairperson, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, is that the access to information bill may remain in the shelves until next year after bills on referendum, constitutional review and others are finalised.

But this is not good enough. We have already waited much too long. Anti-corruption actors, the media and other human rights advocators need the law to promote transparency, accountability and other elements of good governance.

To be able to alleviate poverty, Uganda needs a transparent and accountable system of governance to effectively and fairly utilise funds earmarked to plan and implement pro-poor policies.

At the end of the parliamentary consultative meeting, members of parliament promised to incorporate the concerns of civil society when the access to information bill 2004 comes to the plenary.