Analysis of Draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill
The Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG), a Kenyan organisation focusing on governance issues which has been participating in the consultations around the draft Bill, asked CLD to prepare these Comments. They aim to provide interested stakeholders with an assessment of the extent to which the draft Bill conforms, and does not conform, to international standards and better comparative practice regarding the right to information. They provide recommendations for reform, as relevant, with a view to helping to ensure that a law can be developed which gives effect, as fully as possible, to this fundamental right.
Click here to read the Analysis
The draft Bill has a number of strengths, including its wide scope, the narrow regime of exceptions and the establishment of an independent and powerful oversight body. A number of CLD’s recommendations are fairly technical in nature, and should be relatively uncontroversial to implement. Some of our key recommendations are:
• The rules on access to information held by private bodies should be better integrated into the law.
• The right of access should apply to everyone, not just citizens.
• The scope of the proactive publication obligations should be extended.
• Some of the exceptions should be further limited.
• It should be clear that public authorities bear the burden of proof in appeals against their decisions.
• The rules on punishment for obstruction of access should be extended.
• A full system for improving record management standards should be put in place.
You can find a version of the draft Bill here:
