MALAWI Research Conclusions The 2013 Right to Know study shows that ministries and departments are still not open and are indeed not free to give information to Malawians. This is despite the fact that each of these institutions has either a Public Relations Officer (PRO) or a Communications Officer or a Director responsible for public affairs and engagement with the general public. Only one out of the eight sampled institutions responded to the written requests for information and only two out of the eight institutions responded to the oral requests for information. The ministries and departments sampled either gave excuses that they did not see the requests or told MISA to call back. To some extent, this proved to be a mere strategy to deny access. Going through websites for these government ministries and departments; it is only the Malawi National Assembly and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food security that have active websites with relevant information. The presence of Information or Communications officers appears to be a mere strategy to create a positive image of the organisations and not to be proactive tools of engagement with the media and other stakeholders. These officers are turned into tools to merely defend the institutions and not a conduit of relevant information with the general public and other stakeholders. The Ministry of Health is a pillar in promoting a health nation and promoting access to information is key in this endeavour. The ministry scored poorly under both the website analysis and the written and oral requests for information. The study therefore finds the Ministry of Health as the recipient of the 2013 Golden Padlock Award. The Most Open Public Institution in MALAWI The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Malawi National Assembly qualify as the most open public institutions in 2013. Although the Ministry of Energy and Mines does not have websites, the institution demonstrated a level of openness by responding to the written request for information within seven days after the request was made. No Government Ministry or Department Website analysis Written request for Information Oral request for Information Total Scores 1 Lilongwe City Council 0 2 14 16 2 Ministry of Energy and Mines 0 14 10 24 3 Blantyre City Council 0 4 12 16 4 National Audit Office 0 4 6 10 5 Ministry of Information and Civic Education 0 4 6 10 6 Ministry of Health 0 2 6 8 7 Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security 8 4 6 18 8 The Malawi National Assembly 14 4 6 24 THE Most Secretive Public Institution in MALAWI The National Audit Office, Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Health qualify as the most secretive public institutions in 2013. These institutions scored poorly under the written requests for information and did not have websites at the time of this study. The National Audit Office plays a critical role in ensuring transparency and accountability of government funds but kept asking MISA to justify why it needed the information requested from the organisation and never released the information requested. The Ministry of Information and Civic Education is responsible for giving out information about government and therefore it should be in the forefront when it comes to promoting access to information and the public’s right to know. News on developments 38 in Malawi is mostly released by the Minister of Information, who works in the Ministry of Information and Civic Education; therefore being secretive is extremely worrisome. The Malawi National Assembly did well on the website analysis 14/20 but poorly under both the written and oral requests for information. The Malawi National Assembly is a place where all matters of national interest are discussed by Members of Parliament; therefore it is pertinent that the information about this organisation should be made public. The Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Agriculture also play a pivotal role in promoting the country’s national development and ought to be in the forefront promoting access to information so Malawians can make informed decisions. Based on the scores and criteria employed in this study, the Malawi National Assembly and the Ministry of Energy and Mines qualify as this year’s most open public institutions. The 2013 Golden Key Award goes to the Malawi National Assembly because it is one of the few public bodies with a functional and accessible website and the institution has a Public Information Officer (PRO) designated to deal with information requests.