Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter has asked government to increase funding towards the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) to popularise the Access to Information (ATI) Act.

In a statement issued on the sidelines of the commemoration of the International Day for the Universal Access to Information yesterday, Misa Malawi chairperson Teresa Ndanga said it is unfortunate that MHRC was not allocated resources to play its oversight role as provided for in the Act.

Ndanga: We call for more funding

She said: “We call for more funding to MHRC to enable it popularise the ATI Act, conduct thorough capacity building initiatives for information officers and relevant bodies, hire enough human resources, conduct systematic monitoring and produce comprehensive annual reports on the implementation of the law.”

The Tonse Alliance administration operationalised the ATI Act on September 30 2020, three months after winning the court-sanctioned Fresh Presidential Election held on June 23 2020.

Operationalisation of the Act was a partial fulfilment of the nine-party-led government’s promise to remove any secrecy within government and make it easier for Malawians to access public information.

But in the statement, Ndanga said it is a concern that two years later, Malawians are failing to fully benefit from the law due to, among others, structural and political barriers and a lack of resources channelled towards MHRC.

While highlighting the lack of resources as one of the key barriers, she said this has resulted in a lack of capacity to understand the law in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), including private entities.

MHRC head of ATI Chance Kalolokesya told The Nation in an interview last month that there is need to raise awareness about the law.

He, however, said the K8 million allocated to the ATI unit to carry out its activities is not enough. Kalolokesya said on average, the ATI unit needs on average K300 million per year.

Minister of Information and Digitisation Gospel Kazako, who is also official government spokesperson, is on record as having told The Nation last month that any information holder who is not cooperative is technically against Tonse Alliance’s transparency and accountability drive.

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