FOI Bill explained to parliamentarians
The Sierra Leone Parliament held Pre-Legislative Conference today, 10th November, 2010. The purpose this event, called public hearing and awareness raising in other jurisdictions, is to explain the concept and content of the FOI bill to the parliamentarians. A kind of softening the ground before the bill is introduced in parliament for debate. The next stage is the introduction of the bill by Parliament which, according to the Clerk of Parliament, will happen within a fortnight.
There was a huge presence of civil society, media and other interested civil society activists at today’s pre-legislative conference as a panel explains the content of the Bill. The Panel comprised of Hon Ibrahim Sorie, Hon. Tommy, Chief Whip, Kwame Yankson, FOI focal person at the Ministry of Information; and Umaru Fofanah, President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists.
Sierra Leone FOI Bill is a fine draft, having emanated mainly from the 2005 civil society draft that was wholly adopted by government, with only two provisions added to it. These provisions were the exclusion of secret societies; and the incorporation of the government’s information policy into the FOI concept.
The FOI campaign in Sierra Leone has been led by the Freedom of Information, coalition, headed by Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone (www.sfdi-sl.org ). After seven years of hard work by civil society, this is a very well come encouraging development.
Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai- BA, LLB, LLM, BL
Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone
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