MALAWI TRANSPARENCY ASSESSMENT REPORT INTRODUCTION MISA Malawi assessed transparency levels in 10 public institutions in line with the ATI law, and this report sums up the findings. The research was done by requesting information from the institutions and looking at their online presence by assessing their publishing of information on websites and other platforms such as Facebook. The Malawi Constitution guarantees the right to ATI. Section 37 stipulates that “…every person shall have the right of access to all information held by the State or any of its organs at any level of government in so far as such information is required for the exercise of his rights”. In 2017, the country also witnessed the enactment of the Access to Information (ATI) Act. The Act exists to “provide for the right of access to information in the custody of public bodies and relevant private bodies; the processes and procedures related to obtaining that information; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”. Malawi now has a functional legal mechanism for accessing information. RATIONALE AND RESEARCH PARAMETERS AIM OF THE STUDY This study aimed to assess the state of ATI in Malawi. Specifically, it sought to examine public organisations’ level of openness and ability to provide requested information. Ten organisations were surveyed between June and August 2023. However, implementing the ATI Act has not been as effective as expected by Malawians and advocates for ATI. Despite this legal mechanism for transparency and accountability, government ministries, departments and agencies, and relevant private bodies remain secretive. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY About three years after the operationalisation of the law, some institutions have not yet appointed substantive information officers, contrary to the stipulations in the act which mandates every public institution appoint or designate an information officer within 12 months of the enactment of the Act (30 September 2020). At the commencement of each financial year, the Minister of Information must publish the list of all information officers in public institutions, but has not done so since 2020. y To determine which organisations (both government and public) provide information to citizens upon request, timeously and with relative ease. y To determine which organisations (both government and public) utilise online platforms to promote access to information. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research used qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to evaluate the level of public access to information held by government and public organisations. Each MISA Chapter conducted research by evaluating the websites of government and public organisations along with submitting written requests for information. This method seeks to establish the transparency and efficiency of government and public organisations in providing information to the public. The Malawi Human Rights Commission is designated to oversee the implementation of the Act. The commission is required to do this by raising awareness of the Act, advising the government and stakeholders on the coordination of activities around ATI law, reporting to Parliament and other relevant bodies on the status of ATI, monitoring and assessing compliance by the information holders and making recommendations on the legal framework on ATI. To facilitate the processes, the commission established an ATI Unit, which has implemented awareness activities, but poor funding by the government has crippled its operations. The Malawi Human Rights Commission has also reported a low demand for information among citizens and attributed this to a lack of awareness. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study was carried out over a very short time. This made following up on critical issues difficult. In addition, the study was limited to 10 organisations, which makes it difficult to generalise the findings across the country. However, the results do shed light on the culture of transparency, or lack thereof, in Malawi. 38