Justice ministry fails transparency test
Namibia's justice ministry was ranked the second worst government institution out of 68 surveyed in eight African countries in the latest annual Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) transparency assessment.
On the flip side, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) was ranked first with 35 out of 40 points.
The justice ministry scored two out of 40, with a Mozambican state institution scoring the lowest with zero points out of 40.
The MISA survey was based on two categories of 20 points each, with the first evaluating accessibility and presence of credible and updated public information on government and public institution websites and social media platforms.
The second category measured the effective handling of requests for information to determine the ease in which public information is obtained.
For the request for information category, CRAN achieved 20 out of 20 points and it scored 15 out of 20 for its website presence.
CRAN was Namibia's most open public institution while the Ministry of Justice was the recipient of the Golden Padlock Award for the most secretive public institution of those surveyed.
The justice ministry's score was the lowest any Namibian institution had received in the past five years, MISA stated.
Another low performer in the website category in Namibia was the Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Ministry, with a zero score for its non-existent website.
The poverty ministry did, however, score 14 out of 20 points in the request for information category.
The Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME development achieved the second highest score for openness with 30 out of 40.
The MISA transparency results for Namibia show that five out of eight Namibian government institutions scored less than five points out of 20 in the category measuring effective response to public queries.
The ministry of environment and the Electoral Commission of Namibia both achieved a mere 2 out of 20 points in this category.
Progress on a law providing access to information remained slow, and several secrecy laws remain in place.
These include the Protection of Information Act, the Defence Act, the National Security Act and the Public Service Act.
“These laws limit a citizen's ability to access information, as well as making the disclosure of public information without the permanent secretary a disciplinary offence.”
The 2009 Communications Act, moreover, allows the government to intercept email, text messages, internet banking transactions and telephone calls without a warrant.
JANA-MARI SMITH
On the flip side, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) was ranked first with 35 out of 40 points.
The justice ministry scored two out of 40, with a Mozambican state institution scoring the lowest with zero points out of 40.
The MISA survey was based on two categories of 20 points each, with the first evaluating accessibility and presence of credible and updated public information on government and public institution websites and social media platforms.
The second category measured the effective handling of requests for information to determine the ease in which public information is obtained.
For the request for information category, CRAN achieved 20 out of 20 points and it scored 15 out of 20 for its website presence.
CRAN was Namibia's most open public institution while the Ministry of Justice was the recipient of the Golden Padlock Award for the most secretive public institution of those surveyed.
The justice ministry's score was the lowest any Namibian institution had received in the past five years, MISA stated.
Another low performer in the website category in Namibia was the Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Ministry, with a zero score for its non-existent website.
The poverty ministry did, however, score 14 out of 20 points in the request for information category.
The Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME development achieved the second highest score for openness with 30 out of 40.
The MISA transparency results for Namibia show that five out of eight Namibian government institutions scored less than five points out of 20 in the category measuring effective response to public queries.
The ministry of environment and the Electoral Commission of Namibia both achieved a mere 2 out of 20 points in this category.
Progress on a law providing access to information remained slow, and several secrecy laws remain in place.
These include the Protection of Information Act, the Defence Act, the National Security Act and the Public Service Act.
“These laws limit a citizen's ability to access information, as well as making the disclosure of public information without the permanent secretary a disciplinary offence.”
The 2009 Communications Act, moreover, allows the government to intercept email, text messages, internet banking transactions and telephone calls without a warrant.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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