TANZANIA CATEGORY 2: REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION The following questions were sent to the MoFAIC: 1. Tanzanians living abroad have had concerns (diaspora) over dual citizenship and the right to participate in elections back home. How is the ministry addressing these concerns? 2. What criteria are considered when establishing a diplomatic office in certain countries? What do we do to serve Tanzanians living in countries where we do not have a consulate? 3. What is the benefit of sending our troops for peacekeeping missions abroad? 4. There have been complaints by students studying abroad about not getting timely and necessary help when they encounter problems in the countries where they are studying. How is your office addressing this matter? 5. Despite the good intentions of the government to find employment opportunities abroad for citizens, there have been reported incidences where those who are sent overseas for work are poorly treated and do not get what they expected. Girls and women, for example, have been lured and forced to work as sex workers and other indecent jobs in countries like UAE and China by their agents. What is your ministry doing to address this problem? n = 20 1. Is there an official designated to take and respond to information requests? (Please state title of officials in ‘Additional Information’) Yes No Additional Information The registry unit and the permanent secretary s 2. Did the institution reply within 21 days? (If less than 7 please state in ‘Additional Information’) s 3. Did the Institution respond to a request for information? s 4. Does the authority publish their procedures for dealing with information requests? They called the researcher and promised to respond within the timeframe but no response was received after several calls and a physical visit There is a client service charter s 5. Did the institution provide all of the information requested? (If partially please mark ‘No’, indicate in ‘Additional Information’ how much of the information requested was supplied) s 6. Did the institution provide written reasons for the refusal of information? (If information was not refused, please contact institution to find out what the policy is in this regard – if they supply written reasons for refusal mark ‘Yes’) s They did not refuse to provide information, but the responsible person was away on a trip 7. Did the institution disclose information about its operations, budgets, structure etc. s They did not disclose the budget and operations 8. Did the authority provide information without questioning the aims and motivations of the applicant? s The officer called the researcher to find out why the request was made and how the information would be used 9. Did the institution acknowledge your request for information within 7 days? s A call acknowledging the receipt was made after seven days 10. Was the information received clear and understandable? s Total Score: 4/20 5. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) CATEGORY 1: WEBSITE www.moh.go.tz It has current information but it’s not particularly user friendly. Of all the websites with a visitors’ counter, this has a smallest number of daily visitors. Information can be accessed in both Swahili and English. 98