[kictanet] CLD Releases Analysis of Draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill

[Grace Githaiga]

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Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:12:32 -0400
Subject: CLD Releases Analysis of Draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill
From: press at law-democracy.org
To: toby at law-democracy.org
















 

 

19 January 2012: For immediate release

Analysis of
Draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill

The Centre for Law and
Democracy today published its analysis of the draft Kenyan Freedom of
Information Bill. The draft Bill was prepared following a wide stakeholder
consultation in November 2011, and it represents a harmonised version of
earlier government and civil society drafts. It is hoped that the current process will finally bring to fruition
the long-standing campaign for right to information legislation in Kenya.

 

“The draft Bill is an
impressive document which scored very highly on our RTI Rating”, said Toby
Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy. “At the same
time, we are recommending a number of further improvements to help ensure full
implementation of the right to information.”

 

The
draft Bill has a number of strengths, including its wide scope, the narrow
regime of exceptions and the establishment of an independent and powerful
oversight body. A number of CLD’s recommendations are fairly technical in
nature, and should be relatively uncontroversial to implement. Some of our key
recommendations are:


 The
     rules on access to information held by private bodies should be better
     integrated into the law.
 The
     right of access should apply to everyone, not just citizens.
 The
     scope of the proactive publication obligations should be extended.
 Some
     of the exceptions should be further limited.
 It
     should be clear that public authorities bear the burden of proof in
     appeals against their decisions.
 The
     rules on punishment for obstruction of access should be extended.
 A
     full system for improving record management standards should be put in
     place.


 

The full
Commentary is available at: http://www.law-democracy.org/?p=1600

 

The RTI
Rating, developed by CLD and Access Info Europe, is available at:
www.RTI-rating.org.

 

For further information, please contact: 

Toby Mendel

Executive Director

Centre for Law and Democracy

email: toby at law-democracy.org


tel: +1 902 431-3688

www.law-democracy.org

 		 	   		  
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