TANZANIA • g) The name, the address, the telephone number and the working hours of the respective institution? • h) The contact details of public officials? The website show name and address and telephone number. No working hours of respective institution No contact details of public officials provided on the website. • i) A mechanism to request and receive a response to electronic messages and requests for information? There is a mechanism to request, receive and responding to the electronic massages for more information. Unlike MEM where monitoring of emails is done even outside normal office hours, SSRA does it only during office hours. Total Score: 11/20 Category 2- Request for Information The following questions were sent to the Social Security Regulatory Authority: 1. What can you say is the status of the social security industry/sector/ is in the country? 2. What sort of disputes or issues do you handle at your agency? 3. How many cases are brought to the authority every year and how many have you successfully solved ever since your were established? 4. How do you make yourself -as an organisation and what you do- known to the general public? 5. How independent is the SSRA? Part 1: Requests for written information n = 20 Yes No Additional Information 1. Is there an official designated to take and respond to information requests? (Please state title of officials in ‘Additional Information’) • The Registry Department is responsible for receiving and delivering the information. All correspondence received are kept in a system for follow-up purposes. 2. Did the institution reply within 21 days? (If less than 7 please state in ‘Additional Information’) • Once the request is in the process it normally takes the institution 5 working days to respond. The person in charge, however, was occupied by the ongoing parliamentary session. The researcher was asked to call the institution on July 3, 2013 to follow up on the request. 3. Did the institution respond to a request for information? • 4. Does the authority publish their procedures for dealing with information requests? • 5. Did the institution provide all of the information requested? (If partially please mark ‘No’ and indicate in ‘Additional Information’ how much of the information requested was supplied) • The institution did not provide all the information requested. 6. Did the institution provide written reasons for the refusal of information? (If information was not refused, please contact institution to find out what the policy is in this regard –if the institution supplies written reasons for refusal mark ‘Yes’) • The institution did not provide any written reasons for the refusal of information. 7. Did the institution disclose information about its operations, budgets, structure etc. • The institution did not disclose the information about its operations, budget and structure. 8. Did the authority provide information without questioning the aims and motivations of the applicant? • The requester was requested to state the reason for the information request, and from which institution he is coming from. 9. Did the institution acknowledge your request for information within 7 days? • After 21 days the institution called the researcher to acknowledge receipt and consideration of the request. The researcher was informed that the institution would call back once its response is ready for pick up. However, the institution did not call back 10. Was the information received clear and understandable? • A responsible person was not available. Total Score: 4/20 91