Read access to public information always an illusion – P3 – Political Reforms



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Dar es Salaam. In the previous two articles, we saw that an Access to Information Act (ITA) does not guarantee that people will enjoy this right in a transparent way. This is because there are people – especially in public offices – who still function under the old notion that giving information was a privilege.

But we are all in agreement that free and easy access to information held by the government is one of the pillars of the economic and democratic development of any society. For example, people in rural areas need quality and timely information to facilitate informed dialogue when planning, monitoring and evaluating development issues at the local level – and also to improve transparency. Because the 2016 Law on Access to Information (Law No. 6 of 2016) is already in place in Tanzania – and that it guarantees Tanzanians access to the Internet. 39 – information – then is a need to educate people about the law, especially among public servants. This is because most of the information that the public needs is in the hands of the officials. It is important for officials to know what the law entails.

It is also necessary to hold specialized training sessions for public servants on the main features of another law, the Access to Information Act and the Importance of the right of the public to know

It should be made clear to officials that those who drafted this law had in mind the fact that it was a way to stimulate the socio-economic development economic situation of the country

. offices or offices, and provide them with the appropriate resources, including facilities and competent staff to accommodate them.

This could play an important role in promoting a sustainable flow of information.

The information of the general public would be very sweet and considerable.

It often happens that there is no need to ask for information, for example, leaflets To ensure the efficiency of new offices and staff, it is necessary to develop tools monitoring and evaluation for access to information.

But, in some cases, private offices also deprive people of crucial information. In this respect, this aspect of control should also be extended to the private sector, especially to enterprises that generate and hold information necessary for development processes.

In today's globalized world, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) This point can not be overemphasized.

In Tanzania, we already have an eGovernment policy in place. But, it is amazing that the implementation of the policy is not so strong. The e-government policy needs to be implemented now.

The use of modern communication technologies by the government in sharing information is something that can not be overlooked for the moment.

an establishment has e-mail addresses, but when you send it an e-mail, it bounces as if the e-mail address did not exist, or nobody at the address will can answer it.

By experience, this is generally the case in many regional and regional offices (as indicated in the second part of this article).

Email communication should facilitate the flow of information. Sometimes, it is not necessary to make a physical visit to get information because time is precious and many people can not afford to spend time in such missions today.

Some public offices are doing well in ICT stakes But most of them are still "old school".

Nowadays, the use of computers can not be avoided.

It was very strange when our researcher went to Dar es Salaam City Hall. Follow-up mission, and Board Registry members told him that they could not respond to his email since they did not have a computer, no internet services!

It is necessary to switch to modern filing systems. It's so embarrassing when you get someone's letter and, after a week or two, you can not trace it anywhere else.

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