ZAMBIA RESEARCH CONCLUSION This year’s study shows that public institutions and government departments are still not open and do not freely give information to Zambians. Although all of the institutions evaluated have a public relations or communications department responsible for public affairs and engagement with the general public, none of the eight institutions responded initially to the written requests for information, and only two of the eight institutions responded to the follow up oral requests. With the exception of the LCC, all the government departments and public institutions had either misplaced the requests or lost them altogether. When the researcher followed up, she was either asked to bring another copy or send an electronic copy of the request for information. Although the ECZ acknowledged receiving their request in less than seven days, they still gave no answers to the questions. Other Institutions claimed they passed the letter on to another department, but it was clear this was a mere strategy to deny access. Even though there are Information and Communications Officers in public institutions, it seems that this role is used to portray a positive image of the institutions and not to provide proactive tools of engagement with the general Zambian Citizenry. Most information officers do not act as a conduit of relevant information to the general public and other stakeholders. THE MOST SECRETIVE PUBLIC INSTITUTION IN ZAMBIA Of the eight public institutions, six did not respond to the written requests for information. Despite having very well updated websites, the ECZ, PACRA, and MALS acknowledged receiving the request, but failed to provide answers. The least deserving is the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), as they misplaced the letter, asked for an electronic copy and subsequently did not respond to it. After making follow-up calls to the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Kufekisa said he sent the letter to another department so that the information could be simplified as it was too technical for the researcher to decipher. The next time the researcher called to make a follow up, the PRO said he was away for work on the Copper-belt attending a trade fair but someone was dealing with the request However, with a very basic website and failure to respond to the written request for information, the Ministry of Health is the recipient of this year’s Golden Padlock award for the most secretive public institution in Zambia. 118 THE MOST OPEN PUBLIC INSTITUTION IN ZAMBIA Looking at last year’s report, The Lusaka City Council is the most improved organisation, as they have upgraded their website, even though some pages are still under construction. They are also one of the two institutions that telephonically answered questions, and where the Public Relations Office could not respond to questions, the researcher was redirected to another department, which also provided the answers within the stipulated time. Even though the Citizens Empowerment Commission (CEEC) misplaced the letter requesting information, they deserve a special mention, as they provided the requested answers over the telephone. The Lusaka City Council is the recipient of this year’s Golden Key award for the most open public institution in Zambia RECOMMENDATIONS It is highly recommended that the government stick to their campaign promise and enact an ATI law. Also, government needs to work with the employees of public institutions to educate them with respect to their roles as public officers, therefore information must be accorded to the people of Zambia. Enacting an ATI law will help the citizenry in accessing information from public offices without suspicion or being asked questions. It was clear from the research that most government departments or public institutions do not respond to individuals, as this researcher experienced.