Over 40 Civil Society Organisations have called upon the government to put in place mechanisms to ensure all public offices have knowledge and capacity to proactively disclose information and respond to information requests made by citizens.

Speaking at a training workshop for  media, civil society and community workers, the Chief Executive Officer of Human Rights Network (HURINET) Mohammed Ndifuna said many government offices are still reluctant to give out information to individuals and organisations who request for information.

He expresses concern that many requests for information have been denied, which has forced some of those requesting to go to court to compel the government bodies to avail the information. Ndifuna says government needs to make access to information a less expensive and cumbersome undertaking.

“The training was organized by HURINET and ARTICLE 19 to explore progress and ways of how individuals and organizations can effectively request for information from government bodies using access to information law. Access to information is a fundamental human right that is enshrined in the Uganda constitution and a number of international and regional human rights instruments that the country voluntarily signed on to…” said Henry Maina, the Regional Director, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa.

Henry Maina of Article 19 East Africa

“The right to information empowers ordinary members of the community to better participate in their own governance and development. It also enables the people to know what is being done by government and to participate in development of their countries, and hold the government and leaders accountable for their actions,” added Maina during the meeting held at Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel in Entebbe.

The CSOs under the coalition on access to information expressed concern that despite commendable efforts of putting in place the access to information act 2005, the passing of the access to information regulations 2007, appointing information officers and making comprehensive programmes for implementation of the access to information law; it is still difficult for many people to file an information request and get a good response.

The 40 CSOs resolved to write to Parliament to fully discharge its oversight role by seeking annual reports from government bodies on how they responded to information requests from the public. They also asked the government to avail the information request forms on their websites and enable people to request for information digitally through either email or mobile telephones.