{"id":55554,"date":"2024-01-08T22:52:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T22:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency"},"modified":"2024-01-08T23:07:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T23:07:45","slug":"parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Passes Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Landmark Move Towards Transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>In a historic development, Parliament has successfully passed the Access to Information (ATI) Bill, marking a crucial stride towards transparency and accountability in the nation. The bill, a fulfillment of President Hakainde Hichilema\u2019s campaign promise, now awaits the President\u2019s assent to officially become law.<\/p>\n

The ATI Bill, which went through its third reading in Parliament this afternoon, seeks to empower the public by providing wider access to information held by government officials. Information and Media Minister and Chief Government Spokesperson Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa, MP, underscored the government\u2019s commitment to fostering public access to information during a press briefing.<\/p>\n

Minister Mweetwa highlighted that the legislation is designed to ensure that public resources genuinely benefit citizens. He emphasized that the new law would compel public officers to share information widely, moving away from previous practices of limited disclosure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law will compel public officers to give public information to the broadest audience possible. For example, instead of an officer who is employing staff or procuring goods for a public body only disclosing the information to personal contacts, he or she will be required by law to publicize the information beyond friends and relatives,\u201d explained Minister Mweetwa.<\/p>\n

During the parliamentary proceedings, Minister of Justice Mulambo Haimbe stressed that the ATI Bill reflects the government\u2019s commitment to Constitutionalism and the rule of law. He further noted that exemptions, such as information deemed sensitive to national security, were justified in the interest of safeguarding the country\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

Minister Mweetwa acknowledged the challenges faced in the past regarding the enactment of such legislation, citing concerns over government procedures, privacy invasion, and exposure of corrupt practices by public officials. However, he reassured the public that the new administration had revived the process with enhanced stakeholder consultation and benchmarking against international best practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Dawn Government is committed to transparency and accountability as premised among the hallmarks of good governance. And in keeping with the electoral commitment made during the campaigns, we have brought this law to the House just as desired by the people of Zambia,\u201d affirmed Minister Mweetwa.<\/p>\n

Following successful debates and considerations, the ATI Bill underwent the second reading and committee stages without amendments before being read for the third time. Once President Hakainde Hichilema assents to the bill, Zambia will join the ranks of other African nations, including Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, and Zimbabwe, where ATI laws are already in place. This landmark legislation is anticipated to strengthen democratic practices and empower Zambian citizens with valuable information for active participation in governance.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. In a historic development, Parliament has successfully passed the Access to Information (ATI) Bill, marking a crucial stride towards transparency and accountability in the nation. The bill, a fulfillment of President Hakainde Hichilema\u2019s campaign promise, now awaits the President\u2019s assent to officially become law. The ATI Bill, which went through its third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-55554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nParliament Passes Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Landmark Move Towards Transparency - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a historic development, Parliament has successfully passed the Access to Information (ATI) Bill, marking a crucial st ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliament Passes Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Landmark Move Towards Transparency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a historic development, Parliament has successfully passed the Access to Information (ATI) Bill, marking a crucial st ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-08T22:52:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-08T23:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/01\/sm_1704742601.264389.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Parliament Passes Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Landmark Move Towards Transparency\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-08T22:52:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-08T23:07:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/01\/sm_1704742601.264389.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/parliament-passes-access-to-information-ati-bill-in-landmark-move-towards-transparency\",\"name\":\"Parliament Passes Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Landmark Move Towards Transparency - 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