Southern Africa: Why Access to Information Matters in Constitutional Democracies

opinion

The 2015 Namibia African Media Barometer (AMB) report highlights the need for the enactment of access to information legislation in Namibia. In the followIng opinion piece by Dr Marius Kudumo argues that access to public information is imperative for citizens' participation in policy making and effective and accountable governance.

Elected public representatives are in contractual relationships with the citizenry in constitutional democracies. They are elected to govern with the consent of the people and with the objective to improve their human conditions, especially the weak, poor and marginalized. Elected representatives are expected to care more for the poor and marginalized in society, as the well-off can take care of themselves in most instances. Citizens therefore, go to elections and elect representatives to govern on their behalf and on the understanding that they will improve their conditions. Subsequently, the citizens have the right to withdraw their sacred votes at succeeding elections, if the elected public representatives fail to carry out the bestowed contractual trust. It is against the relationship between the elected representatives and the governed that access to information should be viewed in functional democracies. Elected representatives must be held accountable to the contract that they have made when canvasing for support. How will the citizenry hold their representatives accountable, if they do not have access to information necessary to facilitate participation in public policymaking?

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