By Zibusiso Dube
ONE of the major
impediments to the success of government projects in Zimbabwe is lack of
adequate access to information. Lack of information is also responsible for
poor service delivery and rampant corruption in the country. Unless it is
realised that information availability is an important component of ensuring
transparency and accountability in the operations of holders of public office
and government institutions, the people of Zimbabwe will continue receiving
sub-standard services from the government and local authorities while
development projects will continue failing to achieve the desired goals. It is
high time efforts are made to ensure that dissemination of information becomes
part and parcel of the operations of public bodies, local authorities and
government departments as part of the broader goal of improving provision of
public services, improving the success
rate of public projects and dealing with corruption in public institutions.
As a starting point, it
would be useful for Zimbabweans to realise that the discourse on access to
information should not be limited to the media and the operations of
journalists as is currently happening. Of course journalists should have access
to public information so that they can disseminate it to the benefit of the
larger populace, however, access to information should be recognised as a right
that should be afforded to all residents. It is everyone’s right to access
information, because information is an empowerment tool that enables a person
to be better equipped to deal with his day to day life, and in the parlance of
democratic discourse, make informed political choices that have a bearing on
his/her livelihood. For instance residents in a community should have access to
the budgets of the local authority so that they can monitor the conduct of the
authority and ensure that enough funds are set aside for service provision that
meets the socio-economic rights of residents. Also, residents in a community
should have access to information on government projects that are operational
in their area. This would enable them, in their localities, to monitor the
progress and implementation of such projects to ensure that the projects are
benefitting the intended beneficiaries and also to ensure that there is no
corruption in the implementation of the projects.
The negative effects of
lack of adequate access to information in Zimbabwe abound. According to
Transparency International, Zimbabwe ranked 154 out of 182 countries in a
survey on corruption in 2011. This means that corruption is a big problem in
the country. Also, many government projects, including Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle,
the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and more recently the Harmonised
Social Cash Transfer Programme (HSCTP) are dogged by controversy with citizens
alleging corruption in their operations. For instance, it is argued that BEAM,
which is a programme that is meant to benefit orphans and vulnerable children
by paying their tuition is also benefitting the children of teachers and other
connected people while many orphans and children from poor families fail to
attend school. While these allegations may sometimes border on conspiracy due
to the unavailability of evidence, what is clear is that efforts should be made
to improve accountability and transparency in government and local authority projects.
Ensuring adequate access to information to residents is the way to do so.
Improving residents’ access to information is also a key way to deal with
corruption.
So how can Zimbabwe
improve access to information? The answer lies in the law. The only tool that
the government has at its disposal to ensure that public bodies, government
departments and local governments afford residents access to information is the
law. Through the law, the government can ensure that institutions behave in a
manner that will promote transparency and accountability – actively providing residents
with information. But the problem that the country faces is that the government
has historically been reluctant to provide Zimbabweans with information.
Instead of affording residents access to information, the government has
established draconian laws that inhibit access to information. These laws
include the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the inappropriately named Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The government’s reasoning
is not hard to follow. Access to information empowers people at the grassroots
level and is therefore thought to reduce the power hold of the government. But
this is a myth. Affording people access to information, in the process
empowering them does not weaken the government. It instead enhances the
development process by empowering people to make informed choices and by
increasing accountability and transparency in the operations of public
officials thus putting a lead on corruption. In any case, how does availing
information such as council budgets, the state budget, information on
government projects, registers of listed companies in an area or cadastres
constitute a risk to the primacy of the state?
This is an opportune
moment in Zimbabwe’s history, as the country is in a political transition, to
begin a process of ensuring that residents in all localities are actively afforded
access to information on critical issues affecting their lives. Access to
information should become a major point of discussion in the current body
politic in the same manner that the issues of devolution of power and de-politicisation
of the security forces have been. The concessionary environment characterising
political discourses at the moment creates an opportunity for advocates of
access to information to put the topic on the national agenda. And the kind of
access to information advocated for in this article is not at odds with the
ideologies of any sober minded Zimbabweans. Unless of course if political
struggles in the country are not decided on democratic principles but on
hoodwinking the masses, using among other tools the ignorance of citizens.
Zibusiso
Dube is the Information Manager at Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
(BPRA). He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on
dubezibusiso@gmail.com
