BDP bins FOI Bill

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Friday August 17, 2012 00:00

Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MP for Boteti North Slumber Tsogwane confessed that the House's opinion on the Bill was divided along party lines, adding that that did not bode well for the Bill. He said that the polarising situation in Parliament, in which the parties concerned were stuck to their decisions, made it difficult for any reasonable person to bring the Dumelang Saleshando-sponsored Bill to its logical conclusion.

Tsogwane attempted to shift the blame on to the Attorney General (AG) whom, he said, has been of little help to Parliament regarding the Bill. He said the AG could have advised the House on the way forward. 'It's unfortunate that what it comes down to is throwing the Bill out or passing it. It would be regrettable if we throw out such an important Bill, but at the same time it is difficult to pass the Bill if government is suspicious of it, or suspicious of the people who drafted it,' Tsogwane said, 'One is forced to bury their head in the sand in this case, because this Bill will not see the light of day.' 

In a valiant effort to assuage his brutal honesty, Tsogwane said the House could take solace in the fact that the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Mokgweetsi Masisi has said an FOI Bill from government is in the offing.

'Minister, let that Bill come as soon as possible, but please don't leave out the critical clauses that were in this Bill,' he said. Yesterday, in his augural debate as Vice-President, Ponatshego Kedikilwe said the issue was not the principle of a FOI law, but the 'configuration and complexity in terms of the wording' of the drafted Bill.

He said it was clear that both opposition and ruling party MPs were in agreement that an FOI law was needed, but that the problem was in the approach of the Bill submitted before Parliament. He said, personally, he had problems with the Bill in the way it addresses issues such as the question of information that should be given versus information that should be denied, data protection as well as national security.

Gaborone Central MP Dumelang Saleshando brought the FOI Bill to Parliament with the objectives of achieving the Vision 2016 goal of 'An Educated and Informed Nation.' When he brought the Bill to Parliament for its second reading in April, he said the essence of the legislation is to enshrine in Botswana's statute books the right for members of the public to access information held by public bodies. He said another aspect of the law is to promote a culture of transparency and accountability in the public service.

In his response to debates yesterday, Saleshando said it was not a question of whether the Bill would see the light of day, but that there has been an opportunity for the public to know about the need for an FOI law.  He said he was disappointed with some MPs who were 'disingenuous' in their debates and labelled the law substandard, calling for it to be taken to the AG for drafting. He said the AG suggested some of the clauses of the bill.

Saleshando, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the House, said he was especially disappointed with Tati East MP Moyo Guma, who in his debate last week, claimed that the AG had advised him that the Bill was bad and would encroach on other laws of the country. Saleshando said he was surprised that Guma, when pressed, could not name a single law that the Bill encroached upon. The Gaborone Central MP said he would be even more disappointed if he found out that the AG was lobbying MPs to reject the Bill, as Guma's assertion suggested.

However, Vice-President Kedikilwe assured the House that the AG had done no such thing. Saleshando also dressed down Minister Masisi whom he accused of having 'an allergy for the truth' and using scare tactics to frighten off MPs who had not read the Bill. Last week, Masisi called the bill 'mischievous' and not being 'anchored in the interests of Botswana.' Masisi said if the Bill passed, it would 'dismantle' government and scare away investors. 

'Is your government that vulnerable?' Saleshando asked yesterday.  He added that he had never seen any of the over 100 countries with FOI laws collapsing when the law was enacted. He also called Masisi out on misinforming Parliament when he said Coca-Cola fled India when the Asian country set up a FOI law. He said in actual fact, Coca-Cola left India in 1977, and the law was introduced much later than that. He said he was disappointed that Masisi, in his debate last week, dismissed the Bill as being drafted by foreigners and the opposition as people who have no experience in government. Saleshando said he has respect for expertise and that in some instances that expertise may come from outside.

'It's been a bad and regressive week for this country. For the BDP to adopt the position that they don't want to listen to logic, and will use the muscle of numbers... It is a major, major setback for our country,' he said.