Fumbling under the veil : access to information and democracy : the Zambian case

Abstract

"The references above are illustrative of the fact that an effective right to information is significant to democracy and has an unequivocal basis in international and comparative human rights law. Although international jurisprudence in this area has been ambivalent, in this essay, a mounting body of evidence is produced in support of the proposition that Zambia, as part of the global village is under an obligation to gaurantee citizens a right to access information. ... The work is divided into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the subject and provides a general overview of the study. Chapter two addresses the theoretical framework and international standards in the area of access to information. Chapter three focuses on the South African context in detail and touches on the Ugandan freedom of information regime. The fourth chapter focuses on the situation in Zambia looking at the obvious gaps in relation to global trends as well as what Zambia could borrow from the South African experience and avoid from the Ugandan regime. The practice in terms of accessibility of public information is discussed, and chapter five is the concluding chapter with a summary of the findings in the foregoing chapters, as well as recommendations." -- Introduction.