With 62 civil servants interviewed from national level and across five districts, the study conducted between December 2018 to March 2019 indicate that majority of public servants (both elected and appointed) have limited knowledge of the law.
70 percent of citizens can’t access information on local
government budgets, laws and projects.
This is according to latest findings of the report generated from a qualitative
research study conducted by Twaweza between December 2018 and March 2019.
The study targeted senior civil servants at national level in government
ministries, Departments and Agencies, Parliament of Uganda, selected higher
local governments and officers at lower local governments (sub-counties).
With 62 civil servants interviewed from national level and across five
districts, the study conducted between December 2018 to March 2019 indicate
that majority of public servants (both elected and appointed) have limited
knowledge of the law.
The five districts selected for the study include Wakiso district in central
Uganda; Buikwe on the shores of Lake Victoria; Hoima district in the Western
region, Kole district in the North and Kamuli district in eastern Uganda.
“Only one public officer had a copy of access to information act. While some
claimed they had seen a copy on the internet, the majority had never read it.
When probed about the Regulations that operationalized the law, an overwhelming
majority reported that they had never heard of the Regulations nor read them,”
says Twaweza report.
Presenting findings of the brief titled; between paper and practice: Civil
servants' views on citizen participation and access to information,
Makerere University’s Political Economy and Public Policy Specialist Professor
Julius Kiiza said Uganda is riding on a deep-seated culture of low or no
accountability due to ignorance.
Kiiza who jointly coordinated this study with Professor Sabiti Makara and the
Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)’s executive director Gilbert
Sendugwa argues that access to information is a matter of right and not a
privilege citing that citizens have a civic duty of continuing to demand for
it.
Although majority Ugandans 68% say it is either easy or very easy to meet the
leaders in their area, more than half the population 63% say it is not easy to
influence decision making in their sub-counties. Also 58% say it is difficult
to engage with a local Civil Society Organisation.
As a result, three-quarters of the citizens say it is not easy to participate
in sub-county planning and budgeting, compared to one out of five who say it is
easy and one out of twenty who say it is very easy.
But Professor Kiiza insists that Ugandans unlike subjects are not like a sack
of potatoes and therefore are rights holders who must hold government to
account.
The report for instance established that there is weak citizen demand for
information Public officials are averse to sharing information and citizens do
not demand that they do.
He argues that without information, citizens lack the capacity to hold duty
bearers accountable.
//Cue in: “President Nelson Mandela said…
Cue out: …if they lack information.”//
According to Professor Kiiza, Ugandan citizenry are predominantly peasant
farmers who constitute 69% of Uganda’s 40 million people. And that they
typically have limited awareness of governance spaces beyond their localities.
During the study, civil servants indicated that citizens do not demand
government information. But the study attributes this view to public officials
themselves not proactively making citizens aware of the mechanisms for
accessing public information.
Professor Kiiza argues that the absence of rewards and sanctions for civil
servants regarding the access to information leaves them in their comfort zones
including the comfort zones of ignorance.
//Cue in: “The civil servants are…Cue out: …that system doesn’t exist.”//
AFIC Executive Director Sendugwa contends that whereas the access to
information law empowers citizens to scrutinize government decisions and hold
public officials accountable, civil servants often refuse to give information.
At the time of adopting the access to information, the expectation was for this
to be accompanied with citizen participation in public decision-making which,
if active and sustained, would in turn build a culture of responsive government
and accountable public servants, however, findings of the study reveal its
impact on civil servants’ processes of disclosing information to citizens is
insignificant.
//Cue in: “There is also a contradiction…
Cue out: …in their health centres.”//
The report also highlights that government has maintained a culture of secrecy
where citizens respond to this posture with fear and acceptance. It further
indicates that citizens quickly give up when faced with bureaucratic hurdles or
unresponsive officials.
According to the report, there is direct unresolved conflict between the access
to information (ATI) law and the Official Secrets Act such that public
officials are left juggling between them and using their discretion to decide
what to share with citizens.
Gonzaga Mayanja, the Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation in the Office
of the Prime Minister says contradictions will be addressed to ensure citizens
are better equipped and able to demand for more information.
//Cue in: “The issue of information…
Cue out: …so that they demand for more.”//
The access to information law requires the Minister in charge of Information
& National Guidance to report annually to Parliament on its implementation.
However, the report observes that the minister has not complied and there is no
parliamentary sanction for this lack of compliance.
Davidson Ndyabahika
Freelancer