News / Africa
Zambia: ATI Bill to be tabled in June
20 Feb 2013 at 08:44hrs | Views
The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Kennedy Sakeni, has announced that the long-awaited Access to Information (ATI) Bill will be tabled in the Parliament of Zambia around June this year.
Reports by the State-owned Zambia Daily Mail say Sakeni made the announcement during a media breakfast in the resort town of Livingstone over the weekend.
Background
Zambia started the process to enact the ATI Bill in 2001 and in 2002, the first draft was presented to Parliament. It went through the first and second reading before the government of late president, Levy Mwanawasa, withdrew it, citing the need for ‘further consultations’. Ever since that time, the Bill has not received any particular attention from lawmakers.
The current government, led by president Michael Sata, promised to enact the Bill by June 2012 when it came to power but later moved the deadline to September 2012.
The new deadline of June 2013 is likely to inspire little confidence amongst key stakeholders as it may be moved yet again.
Source - MISA
