DCEC is open, OP is secretive

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Wednesday September 29, 2010 00:00

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana chapter found that the Ministry of Lands is the best in e-governance, with a good website. MISA issued the awards during its commemoration of the World Access to Information Day yesterday. Botswana is among the countries lagging behind in access to information because it lacks a Freedom of Information Act.

Officiating at the awards, Law Society of Botswana chairman Tebogo Sebego said transparency is the bedrock of all good governance and best practice principles. He said people's rights cannot be protected in a secretive environment. 'Corruption festers where there is no transparency.

Incompetence becomes the order of the day where shady deals are the order of the day,' he said.Sebego said that transparency should be encouraged at individual, familial, community and national level. He said if an individual is not open to his or her spouse or partner, conflicts are bound to disturb the relationship. This could be avoided by simply being open and transparent, he added.

The attorney expressed concern that the Botswana Constitution does not protect the 'right to know' yet it is the same constitution they say the right is sacrosanct. 'If it is not protected, why then do we believe it is so sacrosanct and further why do we believe we as individuals are entitled to it?' Sebego accused MPs of failing to act in the interest of the public by supporting laws like the National Security Act of 1986 that promotes secrecy. '...Where one can be jailed for up to 25 years under Section 4 and 5 for wrongful communication of certain information. The provisions of the Intelligence and Security Service also hamper the attainment of a transparent nation that we aspire to be. Irregular tender awards can and may have been protected by such provisions,' he said.

Sebego said that the judiciary and Parliament where MPs pose questions about government and its business are avenues through which people can seek to put into effect their right to know.

'The High Court in Botswana has jurisdiction to consider all cases before it where any individual claims that their rights under the constitution or any law are being infringed upon. Individuals can therefore approach the courts to seek orders to have government release information that they require presented to them or published,' he said.The DCEC boss, Rose Seretse said they are very happy to win the award. 'We were not expecting to be given the most open and transparent award.

We had expected to receive the most closed and secretive award. People like to say we are not open enough, but we always carry out campaigns like public education where we educate the public in dikgotla about corruption and how to prevent it. We also have a good prevention strategy that we have been rolling out to the public. It is just that people are only interested in knowing who we are investigating,' she said.