INTRODUCTION expectation of exploiting these resources seems to have reinforced a discourse around the reconstitution of the authoritarian regime characterised primarily by intensified violence and a tendency to close the mechanisms for information sharing and transparency.2 It has been roughly five years since Mozambique introduced the Right to Information Law (LEDI) – Act No. 34/2014, of 31 December – a sign of government commitment to the opening of organisations holding information of public interest. It goes without saying that making information available is an important indicator of the consolidation of democracy and good governance. The commitment of public authorities to the implementation of LEDI therefore entails the need to strengthen democratic principles. From the point of view of reorganising organisations to create the conditions for the implementation of the LEDI, it seems that there is no government strategy to strengthen internal administrative procedures. The research data are indicative of the absence of organisational mechanisms for information management. Thus, despite a considerable degree of dissemination of LEDI, there are still challenges in terms of implementation, i.e., physically organising the information and making it available. In many organisations there is a near complete absence of archives, spaces in which to peruse documentation, dedicated staff to handle requests for information or a system to locate and retrieve documents. However, despite a legal framework that underlies the opening of organisations, becoming proactive in providing information, a number of incidents of resistance were noted. Notwithstanding the existence of LEDI, as a rule, legislation governing the making of information available still suffers from elements that hinder its effective implementation. One of the most significant examples of this is Act No. 12/79, of 12 December – the Law on State Secrecy – and, above all, the way in which it is interpreted and the abusive manner in which it is applied to prevent access to information, over and above issues related to the limitations arising from appeals procedures, imposed by law, as reported in a recent study carried out by MISA, the Bar Association, Sekelekani [communication for development NGO] and the Observatory of the Rural Environment1. The growth in the use of online media, specifically websites and social media, is quite significant in the organisations that were evaluated. While websites tend to provide information on the organisations’ operations, social media pages are used to showcase, in infographics, the activities of those organisations. However, it is clear that the use of online media still lacks a professional touch and clear strategies. A large number of the organisations share information through these channels on a seasonal basis, without a timetable or a clear categorisation of the information posted. State secrecy stood out among the various reasons put forward for the withholding of information, used as a tool to limit the free flow of information and, sometimes, to arrest and assassinate academics, political opponents and journalists. Overall, it can be said that the release of information is improving due to the growth of online platforms, but this growth is very slow and requires bold actions to improve information sharing mechanisms – what the Mozambican law and international principles call proactive information delivery – for the sake of transparency, good governance, and for the consolidation of democracy. In a context in which the Mozambican State faces – on the one hand – a loss of credibility among its financial partners due to the discovery of a loan obtained illegally and – on the other – ever spreading military conflicts in the north and centre of the country, the margin of opportunity for organisational openness to the idea of access to public interest information has a tendency to shrink. Furthermore, the announcement of the discovery of huge gas and coal deposits and the 1 SEKELEKANI, OAM, MISA E OMR, Lei do Direito a Informação, as Cadeias de Valor: Relatório de Monitoria da Implementação da Lei n°34/2014, de 31 de Dezembro , Maputo, 2020 RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE 2 81 Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco, Growth, capital accumulation and economic porosity in Mozambique: social losses, private gains, Review of African Political Economy, vol. 41 / 1, 2014, p. 26‑48. MOZAMBIQUE TRANSPARENCY ASSESSMENT REPORT