Rwandan government to entrench transparency, accountability

Posted by peter in English, Laws and Regulations | 0 comments

The Director of article 19 Eastern African has praised Rwandan new published right to information law and revealed that the new law will increase citizen participation in the management of public affairs.

According to the new law published on 11^th March 2013, a person is entitled to an appeal to the Ombudsman office in case he or she is denied information requested.

In a statement, the director of article 19 Eastern Africa, Henry Maina supported the new law for covering both private and public bodies that carry out work in the public interest.

“This passage of this law shows that the Rwandan government is keen to entrench transparency and accountability as well as enhancing greater participation of citizens in the management of public affairs” says Maina.

Maina also supported the law that it applies not only to public bodies but to some private bodies that carry out work in the public interest.

Henry Maina worked for 10 year in human right before joining Article 19 in 2008; he also has expertise in advocacy and governance.

The law ranks Rwanda among the top countries on African continent with such aggressive law that allows all people to seek, receive and disseminate information.

However, the minister is instructed by the law to determine orders on crucial information that may be danger to national security.