MALAWI SUMMARY Organisation Website Request for information Total score 1. Blantyre City Council 14 18 32 2. Lilongwe City Council 13 4 17 3. Malawi Electoral Commission 16 17 33 4. Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority 12 16 28 5. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security 11 17 28 6. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology 11 4 15 7. Ministry of Health 11 4 15 8. Ministry of Information and Communications Technology 4 2 6 9. Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development 10 2 12 3 2 5 10. Mzuzu City Council RESEARCH CONCLUSION The study shows that most public organisations recognise the role of websites and online platforms in the promotion of access to information and accountability. However, there is still a lot of secrecy as none of the websites surveyed contained information on issues such as budget, expenditure, procurement or signed contracts. Public organisations seem to post updated information to their social media accounts more regularly than their websites. THE MOST SECRETIVE PUBLIC ORGANISATION IN MALAWI Mzuzu City Council has no website and did not provide relevant and up-to-date information on its social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter). The council also failed to acknowledge the request for information. Therefore, the 2020 Golden Padlock Award goes to the Mzuzu City Council. Only four organisations responded to the requests for information. One organisation even indicated that some officers believe public information is to be requested by journalists only. Three organisations refused to provide information without questioning the aims and motivations of the applicant. Another notable finding during the study was that most online contact details, more especially email addresses, are either not active or are not attended to by responsible officers. THE MOST OPEN PUBLIC ORGANISATION IN MALAWI The website of the Malawi Electoral Commission contained up-to-date information, as did its Facebook page. This organisation not only provided a response to the written information request, but did so timeously. Their online presence and comprehensive responses to specific information requests set this organisation apart. Therefore, the 2020 Golden Key Award goes to the Malawi Electoral Commission. RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE 78