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| Constitution and Legal Affairs Minister, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe. |
The bill which had been during debates criticised by opposition MPs, is grounded on helping citizens to access information from public institutions and neither had intention to gang press freedom.
Constitution and Legal Affairs Minister Dr Harrison Mwakyembe said when winding up his debate “am surprised” with how opposition and other MPs criticised the bill.
He said Tanzania started working on the law some 10 years ago and now MPs had failed to differentiate between the media access bill and the access to information bill.
“The bill is not related to press and it should not be correlated,” Dr Mwakyembe who is a journalist and legal expert told the national assembly.
The bill passed by the parliamentarians had some minor changes including the penalties from the first stated 15 to 20 years imprisonment for information officer issuing false information to between two and five years.
Mr Mwakyembe said however the bill will broaden chances for journalists to access state information as citizens. But according to Mwakyembe the law will be applicable in Tanzania Mainland and can be formalised by the Zanzibar House of Representative at their own discretion.
On the timeframe to issue information, the minister said the 30-day time was a best period regarding the volume of application that one institution can receive from across the country.
He said the ministry will develop regulations that will determine the number of days and information requested to be availed to the applicant.
Daily News
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