MEDIA OWNERS ON MUTHARIKA’s NECK OVER ACCESS TO INFORMATION BILL

Pressure continues to mount on President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika’s decision not to table Access to Information Bill during this sitting of Parliament due to what the Cabinet Ministers say inconsistencies rocking the bill.

Media Owners and Managers in the country in collaboration with Media Institute of Southern Africa – Malawi Chapter (MISA-Malawi) and the Media Council of Malawi (MCM) have asked Mutharika to explain the inconsistencies rocking the bill.

In a joint statement petitioned to Mutharika signed by Misa-Malawi Chair Thom Khanje, Media Council of Malawi chair Professor Wiseman Chijere Chirwa, Mbumba Banda of Nation Publication Limited, ZBS Director Gospel Kazako, Times Group Managing Director Leonnard Chikadya, Capital Radio Arlene Osman and MIJ Fm Executive Director Dalitso Nkunika also asked government to table the Bill before Parliament rises in December 2015.

“In light of the foregoing concerns, we wish to remind your Excellency, as you are aware, that the right of access to information is a constitutional right, as per Sections 36 and 37 of the Malawi Republican Constitution as enacted in 1995, and its implementation or otherwise directly reflects on the constitutionality and quality of governance prevailing under any good regime.

“Your Excellency use your executive powers to reject the adulterated version of the Bill and uphold the original version, which reflects the outcome of the inclusive international and domestic consultations that recommended a governance structure that establishes the Independent Information Commission and the “use of public resources” as justification for and scope limitation on private and CSO bodies’ obligations to grant access to information,” reads the petition in part.

The media managers and owners have also called upon government to urgently hold a meeting between the Legal Affairs Committee of Cabinet and the Task Force that drafted the ATI Bill to be fine-tuned to address the mentioned “inconsistencies”.

During the official opening of Parliament, Mutharika assured Malawians that the Bill is ready and will be tabled in during this sitting of Parliament.

Few days later, Minister of Information and Civic Education Jappie Mhango issued a statement saying the bill contains numerous errors which needs to be ironed out before the bill is tabled and he said the bill has been sent back for redrafting.