BOTSWANA TRANSPARENCY ASSESSMENT REPORT INTRODUCTION ATI is also compromised by harassment of human rights defenders, notably journalists. In July 2023, journalists from Mmegi newspaper, editor Ryder Gabathusi and senior reporter Innocent Selatlhwa, were detained with suspicion that the security services wanted to know the identity of their sources for a particular story. Section 12 of the Botswana Constitution provides for FOE. However, Botswana is one of the countries in Southern Africa without an ATI law. Despite several regional and international protocols on ATI, Botswana has yet to domesticate or ratify these. Their devices were confiscated, and this raised fears that the authorities wanted to know who their contacts were. The detention of the two journalists, even though they were released without charge, was viewed as a direct assault on freedom of the media and FOE. It was meant to send a chilling message across the media and sources of confidential information. As a result, ATI was compromised, as sources did not trust journalists with their information. Efforts to craft ATI legislation have been frustrated in Parliament, notably in 2012, when the then Leader of the House and now the President of the country, Mokgweetsi Masisi, led the rejection of the proposed Private Members Bill, submitted by opposition Member of Parliament, Dumelang Saleshando, with a promise of a better Bill. The government continues strengthening information control systems under the guise of improving public relations. Centralising the flow of information has meant delays and, in many cases, as this survey shows, no information at all. RATIONALE AND RESEARCH PARAMETERS AIM OF THE STUDY There seems to be no appreciation of the fact that government officials are just custodians of public information and not owners of it. This survey targeted ten public organisations to ascertain how responsive they are to information inquiries by the public. The survey was carried out from May to June 2023. The organisations surveyed included two government ministries and eight state-owned institutions or parastatals. In recent months, government communication teams have been consolidating their positions and undergoing training and morale-boosting retreats. A high recruitment drive to beef up the government communication human machinery, particularly in the Office of the President and Botswana Television, has been noticed. The study aims to provide an informed picture of the state of access to information in Botswana. The results of the study are expected to motivate transparency and open government. The government appears to be deliberately stifling FOE and ATI in Botswana. In 2022, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence (Controlled Investigations) Act was enacted, raising fears that the right to privacy would be undermined as it permitted surveillance without judicial oversight. Some provisions of the law provided for snooping and intercepting private communication without a court warrant. This was a clear affront to FOE and ATI, particularly to journalists’ sources, as they would be exposed, and this would compromise ATI. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 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 Eventually, the new legislation was watered down due to public outcry and advocacy from civil society actors. 5