Parley Media Committee encourages institutions to implement ATI Act

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information and Communications, Susan Dossi, has emphasized the need for public Institutions to start implementing the Access to Information Act and regulations.

Dossi was speaking on Thursday in Lilongwe when officially opening the training for Tobacco Commission (TC) staff on Access to Information Act and regulations facilitated by Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) held in Lilongwe.

She said public institutions should share information with the public whenever they request it even before that information is requested.

“We believe that transparency and accountability is key so if Institutions are accountable to the public they should be able to protect public finances used in these organizations,” she said.

Dossi urged Institutions to implement the ATI Act and regulations to avoid speculations on social media.

TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said because of the nature of business at the commission, there is  a lot of interest from the public and stakeholders within and outside the industry.

“A lot of people are interested in what is happening in the tobacco industry so we felt it is important that we improve the way we make the information that we hold accessible to the public,” he said.

Chigwenembe believed that the public will be made fully aware of what is happening in the industry hence the training of the management.

MHRC Civil and Political Rights Officer Nancy Chiume said there is a gap in terms of understanding the processes and procedures of the law from information holders.

” In some Institutions there is progress as we have seen the appointments of information officers to help dissemination of information,” she said

Chiume encouraged other institutions to train their management so that they are on board in understanding how they are going to disseminate the information.

The ATI law was passed in Parliament in 2017 and came into operation in 2020.

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