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  HomeCollaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)  /  Access to information
10Sep

Uganda On the Right Path Towards Realising Open eGovernance

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By Lilian Nalwoga |
The Uganda government has identified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as one of the key drivers of socio-economic transformation in the country. This is evidenced in its presence as a priority in national development frameworks such as Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan II (NDP II) which spans from 2015 to 2020.
Extension of the National Broadband Infrastructure (NBI) which to date has connected a total of 133 Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) sites out of which 94 are currently utilising internet delivered over the NBI. Further the NBP II also prioritises the construction of incubation hubs and ICT parks.
These frameworks have recently been measured for the level of governmental openness they enable. Open e-Governance is measured in terms of the ability of the different actors in the internet access eco-system , including governments, business and civil society, to participate in decision-making processes  through the use of information and communication technologies.
In March 2017, CIPESA conducted a study into the State of Open eGovernance in Uganda. The study forms part of the Open e-Governance Index (OeGI), an action-research project implemented by the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) `that aims to measure the state of ‘openness’ in the implementation of ‘e-governance’ around the world.
The OeGI index comprises four key  dimensions which are measured for different qualities with the highest score being 1 a dimension can score. The study revealed that the dimension Uganda scored highest in was  digital inclusion at 1.00 and scored lowest in the dimensions on meshed eGovernment, eParticipation channels and ICT empowered civil society respectively.
Dimension and Country Index Scores

Dimension Description COL IND PAK PHI UGA Average
Meshed eGovernment The ability of governments to provide citizen centric online services. 0.92 0.54 0.38 0.72 0.35 0.58
eParticipation new, digital medium for public participation 0.51 0.82 0.32 0.65 0.36 0.53
Digital Inclusion Presence of policies and programs that support the public’s wider use of ICT 0.83 0.50 1.00 0.33 1.00 0.73
ICT empowered civil society ICT readiness and utilisation CSOs and other non-State organisations such as political parties and people’s organisations. 0.63 0.54 0.71 0.75 0.39 0.60
Enabling / constraining environment Extent that the government recognizes and fosters the right to freedom of expression, right over personal communication, cultural freedom and the use of local languages government’s ability to place its public functions online, which comprises many aspects of ICT enablement. 0.81 0.78 0.63 0.63 0.78 0.73
Average   0.74 0.64 0.61 0.62 0.58 0.64

In terms of  Meshed eGovernment, Colombia scored the highest at 0.92, followed by the Philippines at 0.72, Indonesia at 0.54, Pakistan at 0.38 and Uganda at 0.35. In the eParticipation channel dimension, Indonesia had the highest score at 0.82, followed by the Philippines at 0.63, Colombia at 0.51, Uganda at 0.36 and Pakistan at 0.32.
Pakistan and Uganda scored 1.00 in the Digital Inclusion dimension, followed by Colombia at 0.83, then Indonesia at 0.50, and the Philippines at 0.33. In the ICT empowered civil society dimension, the Philippines scored the highest at 0.75, followed by Pakistan at 0.71, Colombia at 0.63, Indonesia at 0.54 and Uganda at 0.39. In the Enabling/Constraining Environment dimension, Colombia scored the highest at 0.81, followed by Indonesia and Uganda both at 0.78, then Pakistan and the Philippines both with a score of 0.63.
Uganda’s highest score in Digital Inclusion reflects the presence of universal access and literacy policies in place, such as the National ICT Policy 2014, Rural Communications Development Fund Policy 2001 and draft broadband strategy although adoption and implementation is still challenge.
Despite, having the lowest average index score of 0.58 out of 1, the study indicates that Uganda is moving towards the right path to implementing eGovernance. This includes a growing number of e- services being offered by public agencies such as e-filling for taxes, presence of enabling laws and policies, some of which are positive for citizen participation, free expression and open governance and a growing use of ICT by both governments and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
Nonetheless, slow uptake and uncoordinated implementation of eGovernance across government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) is still hampering its full adoption. Thus, more commitment towards adoption of policies especially those focusing on promoting open data, open standards and privacy and data protection is needed.
Full findings of the study can be found here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

20Jul

CIPESA Engages Ugandan Members of Parliament on Implementation of Access to Information Law

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By Loyce Kyogabirwe |
It is 12 years since Uganda passed an access to information law with the purpose of promoting transparency and accountability in all organs of the state by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information. The law also empowers the public to scrutinise and to participate in government decisions. However, the law has remained largely unimplemented as many Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) ignore citizens’ requests for information and rarely release information pro-actively, which contravenes the law.
“I have sent several information requests to the Ask Your Government (AYG) Uganda portal. It is now three months and I have never received any feedback,” said Cuthbert Abigaba, Member of Parliament (MP) for Kibaale county in Kamwenge district, while speaking at an engagement of Uganda’s MPs on implementing the Access to Information Act 2005. Organised by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) on July 13, 2017, the convening was a follow up on an earlier engagement with the MPs on their duties and responsibilities in enforcing the access to information law.
Section 43 of the Access to Information Act requires parliament to receive annual reports from each minister detailing all requests received from citizens for access to records or information, and indicating whether access was granted or not, and where access was not given, the reasons for the denial.
However, Parliament has never received any such reports, nor has it asked ministries to comply with this provision of the law. This issue was also raised earlier in April 2017 when CIPESA presented a position paper on the State of Access to Information in Uganda to MPs on the ICT Committee. The paper highlights some government initiatives to promote access to information, identifies gaps in the law, and makes recommendations for amendments to the law in order to enhance citizens’ access to information.
At the this month’s meeting, CIPESA presented to 16 MPs a comparative analysis of access to information legislation in East Africa and urged the lawmakers to pursue the proposed amendments so as to align Uganda’s law with progressive provisions in some of the East African Community (EAC) Member States’ laws, as well as to international human rights instruments.

 “While it is recognised that the EAC region is progressing in promoting the right to information, there are a number of issues that have bottlenecked citizens’ right to information. These include: lack of access to information by non-citizens in Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan; lack of ATI regulations in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan; lack of a clear definition of security information by Uganda; lack of provision for transferability of requests in South Sudan; limited scope of bodies the law applies to in Uganda; prohibitive access fees in Uganda, as well as the lack of clear complaints mechanisms in Uganda.” Comparative Analysis of Access to Information Legislation in Africa, June 2017.

During the meeting, the MPs expressed concern over insufficient knowledge among legislators about their duties and responsibilities under the law. They also noted that citizens were not sufficiently aware of their rights and the obligations of public officials. The legislators called for wider awareness raising to increase citizens’ demand for information. “If a Member of Parliament like me did not know the access to information law, what about the citizens who are not even educated?” said Rose Mutonyi, MP for Bubulo West, Manafwa district.
On the other hand, the MPs appreciated the recommendations and proposed amendments contained in the two position papers and suggested an action plan for meaningfully implementing the access to information law. Among the strategies put forward was to engage the Office of the Speaker of Parliament, sensitise more MPs to demand for annual reports from ministers, and engage ministers to submit the annual reports.
Nonetheless, the MPs cited the need for more capacity building on access to information for the majority of legislators to inform their discussions in parliament. As noted by Majegere Kyewalabye, MP for Bunya East, Mayuge district, “We need to be prepared more before we can go on the floor of parliament to present these issues.”
The engagement with MPs was organised by CIPESA in partnership with the Greater Parliamentary North Forum in the context of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa initiative’s objective to engage stakeholders on supportive policies and practices for human rights and democratic governance in East Africa.
 

22May

CIPESA Presents Proposals on Access to Information Law to Uganda Parliament’s ICT Committee

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By Juliet Nanfuka |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has met members of the ICT Committee of the Parliament of Uganda and presented proposals for more effective implementation of the Access to Information Act of 2005 and for amendments to this law in order to enhance citizens’ access to public sector information.
During the April 7 engagement, it emerged that the access to information law remains largely unknown, misinterpreted and unimplemented, thus fueling the gap in the amount of information held by the state available to citizens. Consequently, civic participation in governance, monitoring of service delivery as well as transparency and accountability in government, is undermined.
In 2005, Uganda enacted the Access to Information (ATI) law which granted citizens the right to access information held by the state. However, in the 12 years that have since elapsed, there are few cases to show utilisation of the law by citizens, and indeed the state.

Article 41 the Uganda constitution, states: “Every citizen has a right of access to information in the possession of the State or any other organ or agency of the State except where the release of the information is likely to prejudice the security or sovereignty of the State or interfere with the right to the privacy of any other person.”

Mary Paula Turyahikayo, chairperson of the ICT Committee, said the committee has worked to ensure that the necessary laws and infrastructure such as the national backbone infrastructure (NBI) project are in place to enable more citizens to access the internet.
Despite these measures, citizens’ access to vital information remains a big challenge, with the access to information law hardly implemented.


The ATI law requires every minister to make an annual report to parliament on the number information requests they received, indicating granted or rejected requests and reasons for rejection. However, no ministry has ever presented such a report. Moreover, at a workshop held last March for government information officers, it emerged that many of them are not aware of this obligation.
Silas Aogon, the Member of Parliament for Kumi Municipality, noted, “We have never seen any report to parliament on how the MDAs [Ministries, Departments and Agencies] are giving information to those who want to access it.  I had never thought about asking for it until now.”

On March 15 and 16, CIPESA hosted 12 Information Officers from 15  MDAs in a dialogue on some of the challenges faced by MDAs to implement ATI and training on the use of the online information portal www.askyourgov.ug.  This was followed by a workshop on April 7 during which a position paper on the Right to Information in Uganda was presented to Members of Parliament on the ICT Committee. The meeting was attended by 17 individuals including seven MPs, six journalists and four members of the Greater North Parliamentary Forum.

Ultimately, for the right to access information to be realised in Uganda, including meaningful implementation of the law, parliament needs to play an active oversight role. Indeed, while some MPs may not be conversant with the ATI law, they recognise the importance of citizens’ access to information for good governance. This was echoed by Abigaba Cuthbert, MP of Kibale County in Kamwenge district, who stated, “With increasing corruption, access to information is critical. We cannot talk about transparency without access to information.”


Accordingly, the CIPESA position paper on the State of Access to Information in Uganda makes several recommendations, the first being that parliament should use its oversight role and compel all public bodies to comply with section 43 of the Act which requires every minister to submit an annual report to parliament on requests for records or access to information made to a public body under his or her ministry. This will ensure that each ministry and the different agencies under it submit annual reports on the status of access to information.
Below are some of the other recommendations:

  • Government ministries, departments and agencies should develop manuals containing descriptions, addresses, nature of work and services, how to access information and persons to consult as stipulated in section 7 (1), (2) and (3) of the Access to Information Act.
  • Government should fast-track and operationalise the Digital Repository Centre for proper storage and accessibility of government records. This will serve to ensure the digitisation of information and more efficient information record keeping, management and release.
  • There also remains a need for the ATI Act to be amended, specifically to:

See the full list of recommendations: State of Access to Information in Uganda

19Mar

"What Must Change?" For More Gender Equality Online

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Storify |
This International Women’s Month, we reflect on what presently shapes women’s participation in the online arena. On International Women’s Day, 8 March, we hosted Akina Mama Wa Afrika, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Connecting Voices of Citizens (CVC) and the Ask Your Government (Uganda) online portal in an online Twitter chat during which we asked “What must change?” to enable a more inclusive online community which recognises gender equity.
See some highlights from the chat here
 

30Jan

The Right To information in Uganda: Unclogging The Bottlenecks

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By Loyce Kyogabirwe |
The right to information (RTI) is essential for the functioning of any democracy and is a prerequisite for transparency, accountability, gender equality and citizens’ participation in governance processes. However, Uganda faces numerous challenges to realising the right to access information despite having an access to information law. In the course of 2016, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) made various interventions to advance RTI, including holding training events and round table discussions for civil society, the media and government officials.
Uganda’s 2005 right to information law remains little known and largely unimplemented. Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) hardly release information voluntarily and tend to be unresponsive to information requests from citizens, due to a culture of secrecy and government bureaucracy that conflict with the law. Conversely, few citizens demand for information as a result of low awareness of their rights and the belief that public officials routinely ignore citizens’ information requests.
At a December 15, 2016 dialogue involving public officials, including information officers from various MDAs, journalists and civil society representatives, it emerged that the government and citizens have not prioritised RTI. “The role of information has been undervalued and sometimes it gets a zero release in [MDA] budgets,” said a public official. Another noted that 11 years after the law was enacted, no MDA has submitted an annual report to parliament on its information disclosure record, including requests received from citizens, as required by the law.
Other challenges prominently cited included under-staffing in MDAs, employing information officers that are unqualified and who often lack mandate to speak on behalf of the public entity, and conflicting laws that make implementing the RTI law difficult.
Journalists shared their experiences of regularly being denied information, often with no reason provided. One journalist noted that informal approaches are the primary means of attaining public information held by the state.
At an earlier training for journalists, which was held on November 23, challenges of public information officers who are either not authorised to release information, or who refer to secrecy oaths not to release information, were prominently cited.
Further, journalists pointed out the cost of accessing information as a hindrance for ordinary citizens. “If it is my right to access information then why am I paying for it?” asked Regina Nassanga of Mama FM. According to the law, a fee of UGX 20 000 (Just over US$ 5) is required when making a formal request at an MDA office.
Despite these obstacles, there are some indications that things could get better. Each government department is now required to have an information officer, and a few public bodies are beginning to implement the government’s 2013 Communications Strategy, although they have been unable to make any significant increase to budget allocations for the information function.
Civil society representatives pointed out additional concerns including the lack of deliberate action to promote RTI particularity for women and people with disabilities. Moreen Nambalirwa from the National Union of Women with Disabilities noted that when information is disseminated to the public via television and radios, people with visual and hearing impairments miss out. She also stated that despite the directive from the Uganda Communications Commission that all TV stations should have a sign language interpretation during some news broadcasts, none of the more than 10 local TV stations have done so, further contributing to the exclusion and limited participation by PWDs in governance processes.
The convenings were organised by CIPESA and provided a space for civil society, public officials and journalists to share their experiences, learn from one another, and suggest possible ways to improve access to information.
 

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