ZAMBIA SUMMARY Organisation Website Request for information Total score 1. Anti-Corruption Commission 13 4 17 2. Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit 5 7 12 3. Electoral Commission of Zambia 16 16 32 4. Ministry of Agriculture 9 8 17 5. Ministry of General Education 10 4 14 6. Ministry of Health 10 6 16 7. Ministry of Home Affairs 1 12 13 8. Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development 9 7 16 9. Road Transport and Safety Agency 11 4 15 RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS to do with their operations and procedures, or is of benefit to the public. Public organisations in Zambia have shown an increase in the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. Of the nine organisations surveyed, eight were active on social media. y The government should enact the Access to Information Bill, which will serve both the government and members of the public, and give civil servants guidelines on how to treat requests for information from ordinary members of the public. Almost all public organisations in Zambia scored badly in this Transparency Report, especially in the information request category. Several organisations requested an introductory letter, which is a hindrance to information access for ordinary members of the public. y Public organisations should make policies to provide information to members of the public through the use of websites and social media platforms. y Public organisations should update their websites and social media pages regularly. RECOMMENDATIONS y Public organisations should consider allowing electronic requests for information and should also outline procedures for information requests and details such as whom to address. y Public organisations need to be deliberate about the publication of information especially if it has THE MOST SECRETIVE PUBLIC ORGANISATION IN ZAMBIA THE MOST OPEN PUBLIC ORGANISATION IN ZAMBIA Although the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit has up-to-date information on its website, many pages are either empty or redirect the user. The only correspondence received from this organisation in response to the request for information, was to demand an introductory letter from the researcher’s organisation. The Electoral Commission of Zambia has an updated, user-friendly website. It is also active on its social media pages and frequently posts updated information. The organisation has an officer who deals with public relations activities. This officer contacted the researcher and clearly supplied the requested information. Therefore, the 2020 Golden Padlock Award goes to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. Therefore, the 2020 Golden Key Award goes to the Electoral Commission of Zambia. RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE 179