NewSETA Pushes for Access to Information Law in Cameroon
By Hans Ngala
The Network for Solidarity Empowerment and Transformation for All (NewSETA), a Yaound-based NGO, hosted a program on Friday, June 20, to review a draft law on access to information in Cameroon.
Implemented in collaboration with The Commonwealth Foundation, the draft law is designed to uphold and promote the right to access information held by public institutions and private entities that receive public funding or possess information of public interest in Cameroon.
Speaking to CNA, Ateki S. Caxton, who is NewSETA’s executive director, explained that “it will provide Cameroon with a legislative tool to regulate and harmonize access to information across its institutions and will stem the tide of false information because when people don’t have access to information, they can fabricate false stories and disseminate”.
Ateki also noted that this law is necessary because “the current framework governing access to information is a patchwork of dispersed provisions across different laws that don’t address issues related to information access comprehensively. A single legislative framework will also facilitate access to information by citizens, especially private media organs, discourage government opacity and refusal of information requests, and encourage transparency in the management of public institutions” he clarified.
He also added that the law was drafted following nationwide consultations and research with respondents from 96 public institutions and 286 information stakeholders.
According to the Right to Information monitor online, there are about 133 countries in the world today with access to information laws while 56 countries remain without them. Ateki explained that “If you look at the whole Central African Region, none of the countries there has an access to information law in contrast to many West, East and Southern African countries that already have it”.
During the consultations with journalists on June 20 at Yaahot Hotel in Yaounde, media practitioners gave their views on the draft law, where they saw lapses, areas that could be refined, and other issues that could be included etc. Some of the issues raised included the decision to make the Access to Information Commission answerable to an independent body such as the human rights commission – instead of placing it under the purview of the President of the Republic. They also wanted specific provisions for access to information by women, low-income persons and physically challenged people, etc.
The draft law will be presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Laws for examination, as well as the Interministerial Committee on the subject, led by the Ministry of Communication, after which it will be forwarded to the Prime Ministry and then the President of the Republic for enactment.
