Access to Information
“An Information Officer is an independent public official responsible for promoting and enforcing the Access to Information Act, 2018.” (ATI, How to manual 2020)
“Any person who wishes to obtain access to information under this Act may make a request in writing to the Information Officer of the concerned public body.” (ATI, How to manual 2020)
Any requests for information should be addressed to the Information Officer, named above, in a letter or an email.
For proper processing, the supplicant(s) should firstly refer to the sections 9 (1) of the Access to Information Act before listing the specific query.
Upon receipt of the formal request, the Information Officer will acknowledge receipt within … working days. The acknowledgment letter will inform the requestor, if the entity is the relevant organization can provide the information or if not, advise the requestor to the appropriate authority and its Information Officer.
Within 21 days, the Information Officer, will provide the information requested, unless this concerns the life or liberty of a person, where the information will be provided within 48 hours.
The Information Act, 2018, also exempt some categories of information. If the request falls in these categories, the supplicants may appeal through the CEO of the organization.
Should there be further any objection; a requestor can file a complaint to the office of the Information Commission as per Sections 35, of the ATI Act, 2020.
The request must make reference to the sections 9 (1) of the Access to Information Act while listing the information being requested.
Requests may be communicated through Email of Hard Copy.
If the requester is uncertain of the procedures or facing difficulties to express a request in writing, the requestor may contact the I.O in person. Therefore, the I.O may provide the necessary assistance in formatting the request.
This is followed by an acknowledgement from the I.O to the requester in writing. The requestor at this point is made aware of the availability of the information within the organization and if it does not belong to the exemption category. The time frame by which the information is to be released is also communicated in the acknowledgment.
In cases whereby the organization does not hold the requested information, the requester may be advised to contact the appropriate Information Holder or the I.O may facilitate the transfer of request him/herself.
Supply for Information in normal course must be done before 21 working days.
Supply of information that concerns the life or liberty of a person must be done in 48 hours.
In cases where the requested Information belongs to the exempted list and cannot be released, the requestor may appeal through the CEO of the organization and later to the Information Commission as stated in the ATI Act, Sections 35.