Draft bill should include media freedom clause

Participants, speaking at the closing of the workshop, said access to information was crucial in allowing the public to play 'watchdog' to the government.

The participants also suggested the merger of the the government sponsored draft with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Bill to enhance a wide coverage of issues to be included in the law.

Priscillah Nyokabi of ICJ-Kenyan section noted that Article 51 of the draft highlights the freedom which will enable Kenyans to access information on important government operations.

"Article 51 of the proposed new Constitution of Kenya covered this right adequately. It is something we had agreed upon as Kenyans, and it was not part of the contentious issues," said Nyokabi.

She said making the right to access information, and the enactment of the freedom of information law, should be treated as urgent while agreeing on what constitutes minimum reforms.

However, constitutional lawyer Wachira Maina opposed, saying it wouldn't be right for this law to divulge crucial security and intelligence information. He said that the disclosure of such information could jeopardise national security and so there is a need to consider security issues secret.

Information Assistant minister, Mr Koigi wa Wamwere, who opened the workshop on Friday, said the government is committed to pass the Freedom of Information Bill before the current Parliament is dissolved (following the December 2007 elections).

Ninety participants from the Ministry of Information, ICJ, Article 19 and the media attended the workshop.

Source: The Eastern Standard