"The ATI Committee of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers ... The papers presented in this book are a compilation of the ideas discussed within the group and elsewhere--and represent its research activities as a group or conducted by its individual members through other institutional contexts"--Acknowledgements. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Access to information and transparency : opportunities and challenges for Nigeria's FOI Act 2011 / Morayo Adebayo and Akinyinka Akinyoade. The problem of access to information in African jurisdictions : constitutionalism, citizenship, and the human rights discourse / Colin Darch -- Transparency and power relations : socio-anthropological perspectives on the right of access to information / Fatima Diallo -- Constitutional domestication of the right of access to information in Africa : retrospect and prospects / Fola Adeleke -- Statistics, indicators and access to information in African countries / Colin Darch -- The extractive industry transparency initiative and corruption in Nigeria : rethinking the links between transparency and accountability / Uwafiokun Idemudia -- Towards realizing the right of access to Internet-based information in Africa / Fola Adeleke and Matilda Lasseko Phooko -- An actionable constitutional right of ATI : the case of Southern Africa / Matilda Lasseko Phooko -- The Uganda freedom of information campaign : stuck in the mud? / Dan Ngabirano -- Realizing the right of access to information in Kenya : what should stakeholders be on the lookout for? / Edwin Abuya -- The right to information in Burkina Faso : an unfinished quest / Abdoul Karim Sango -- Access to information and transparency : opportunities and challenges for Nigeria's FOI Act 2011 / Morayo Adebayo and Akinyinka Akinyoade.
Summary:
For a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, 'Access to Information in Africa' brings together for the first time a collection of African academics and practitioners to contribute to the fast-growing body of scholarship that is now accumulating internationally. This is therefore an African account of progress made and setbacks suffered, but also an account of challenges and obstacles that confront both policy-makers and practitioners. These challenges must be overcome if greater public access to information is to make a distinctive, positive contribution to the continent's democratic and socio-economic future. This book offers a necessarily multi-dimensional perspective on the state of ATI in African jurisdictions and the emerging, new praxis - a praxis that will entail a genuine domestication of the right of access to information on the continent.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.