SECTOR 1 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.1 (2005 =1.1; 2007 = 1.1; 2009 = 1.0; 2011 = 1.2) 1.7 Public information is easily accessible, guaranteed by law, to all citizens. There are no laws that guarantee access to public information. In 2011, the President of the minority Botswana Congress Party, Dumelang Saleshando tabled a Freedom of Information Bill in Parliament. It was rejected on the basis that the government was drafting its own Freedom of Information Bill that it would then present by the end of 2012 or early in 2013. To date, the government has not presented a FOI Bill. “Some newspapers buy stories or information. But there is a problem, because government officials tend to think that they own information. They give or use that information as and when they want to.” “Sometimes you get worried when you ask a question; what will they demand to rummage through files? Sometimes it takes a month to get a small piece of information and at times they say no. Or you will ask a question about a certain story and you will see the answer to your question as a story on the state media.” “For the last 3 months we have asked the same question – how prepared are we to deal with Ebola and it has not been answered. They just can’t provide that information. They say it’s on the website but it’s not there.” 20 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014