SECTOR 1 However, according to the panellists, almost all entities that are supposed to proactively disclose the above information do not. An example cited was that of a public contract from two decades ago that was requested by several citizens and journalists without success; the N4 Concession Contract (Road MaputoWitbank), entered into by the Government of Mozambique and the company TRAC. Neither the government (through the Ministry of Public Works) nor TRAC (a private company obliged by the Right to Information Law) made a copy of the said contract available. Another critical aspect mentioned is the lack of sanctions for those who – unjustifiably under the law – refuse to provide the information required. Also mentioned was the very model of monitoring the implementation of law that is out of place with international best practices, including those in the African Union Right to Information Model Law. Another obstacle mentioned that hinders the access to information – especially from a journalists’ perspective – is the fact that a large number of public entities do not have spokespersons; the presidency of the republic and the government included (the latter only have spokespersons in their weekly sessions and they are not government spokespersons as such). It should be noted that for the first time, Mozambique has a president of the republic who, about to finish his mandate, never conceded an interview to a Mozambican media outlet – public or private. It was also stated that the processes to obtain public information are overly bureaucratic, which potentially eliminates the useful effect of the information being sought. As for access costs, the law makes provision for free access, but the practice has shown that access is not necessarily free. 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: Score of previous years: 18 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MOZAMBIQUE 2018 ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ 2.3 2005=1.0; 2007=1.4; 2009=1.6; 2011=1.6; 2014=3.6