City's secrecy violates Harambee transparency

Critics say the City of Windhoek’s shock decision to impose technical barriers to block access to information on internal decision-making processes is in direct contrast with government efforts to improve transparency and implement access-to-information legislation.

Critics also pointed out that the City’s decision is likely to boost distrust of the municipality’s internal governance rather than lessen it.

“The City of Windhoek, instead of strengthening their information sharing is now curtailing it by using legal technicalities to deny the residents of Windhoek and the broader public access to important information,” Media Ombudsman Clement Daniels said yesterday.

He warned that the City’s decision to increase restrictions by invoking stagnant laws to prevent public access to information will reinforce suspicions that “the City is not transparent and accountable in its dealings with public resources”.

Natasha Tibinyane, Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Namibia director, said provisions in the Local Authorities Act enabling the City’s gag order “defy citizen’s fundamental right to access to information”.

“It is disconcerting that this decision is made at a time when the government of Namibia has made a clear commitment to ensuring access to information in the Harambee Prosperity Plan and through the MICT''s concerted efforts to ensure that that our legislative and policy framework is responsive to that,” Tibinyane added.

She pointed out that the section invoked by the municipality to deny access “is a clear violation of the right to access information, it goes as far as legislating payment for information that should be in the public domain, for free.”

Gwen Lister, the chairperson of the Namibia Media Trust, said access to information “first, and foremost, should mean an opening up of channels of information and not the contrary”.

Both Misa Namibia and NMT are members of the Access to Information in Namibia (Action) coalition, an umbrella organisation under which a range of activists, civil society and media organisations campaign for the cause of access to information and freedom of expression.

Lister said government’s commitment to an access-to-information law and improved transparency would be hampered if certain sectors fail to commit to an open and transparent regime.

“The municipality should recommence making all documentation available for ease of access by both media and citizens,” she advised.

The media ombudsman said there are various options available to the City in handling media reports they perceive as untruthful or unethical, including approaching his office and the courts.

Daniels said that to deny access to certain information to the public based on the way in which some journalists report on council matters does not “justify a blanket ban on access to information.”

Daniels underlined the fact that local authority councillors are elected officials and “are responsible to govern the local authority in the best interest of the community as far as possible through a participatory process.”

RDP city councillor Brunhilde Cornelius said the decision came as a surprise to her when it was announced at last week’s council meeting. “There was no official communication between whoever made the decision and the councillors,” she said.

“The big question is why only now? After all these years, what has changed now?”

Cornelius also emphasised government’s commitment to access to information and transparency, noting that the City’s decision diverges from President Hage Geingob’s call on public servants to be more open and transparent and to involve the public in decision-making processes.

She said sharing documents relating to ongoing matters is “the right thing to do”, even if the law makes provision for secrecy.

“The people who voted for us, they are the residents who apply for rezoning and consolidation and so forth. And we must approve it. So why hide it?”

Misa’s Tibinyane said the City’s response was one of the challenges facing the country’s goal of improving transparency.

“Instead of engaging with the media on the reports that concerned them, they instead deny the public their basic right to information.”

Cornelius said media reports on council documents are mostly accurate.

JANA-MARI SMITH