Accountability & Transparency: Roles of Government,

Parliament, Civil Society Rotimi Olawale

rotimi@youthhubafrica.org

@youthhubafrica

@rotexonline

Focus

Role of Parliament

Role of Civil Society/Youth

Success Stories

Conclusion

Key Definition

Historical Perspectives

Focus on FOI

Focus on EITI

Role of Government

Key Definitions

Accountability: This is defined as the obligation of power-holders to take responsibility for their actions. Power holders refer to those who hold political, financial or other forms of power and include officials in Government, private corporations, international financial institutions and CSOs. – World Bank

This presentation however focuses on the accountability of Government actors towards citizens.

Key Definitions

Transparency: is about shedding light on rules, plans, processes and actions. It is knowing why, how, what and how much. Transparency ensures that public officials, civil servants, managers, board members, and businessmen act visibly and understandably and report on their activities. – Transparency International

Historical perspectives

Long years of military rule in several African countries meant accountability and transparency is not the norm, its rather the exception.

Lets take a brief look at tenure limits in African countries for African Heads of State

Freedom of Information (FOI) FOI is generally defined as the right to seek, access and receive information from public

bodies

FOI is also central to the realisation of a number of other rights. Where FoI is absent in a National legislative framework, citizens cannot effectively access information about basic services, fully participate in the social/economic development of their countries or hold their Governments accountable for public spending, which can in-turn affect their rights to health, employment, education, basic services and to fight corruption.

Almost half of the world’s countries have adopted FoI laws (98 countries)

However in Africa, prior to 2011, number of countries with FOI laws stood at 5, this has increased over the last three years to 13 representing about 24% of the continent

Countries in Africa with FOI laws

South Africa Angola

Zimbabwe Uganda

Sierra Leone Cote D’Ivoire

Nigeria Niger

Ethiopia Rwanda

Tunisia Guinea

Liberia

FOI in Africa: The Reality

The experience of Youthhubafrica

Over 2 years, we have written FOI requests to 4 Government agencies in Nigeria

For the first agency (Ministry of Youth Development), we got no response until we threatened legal action.

Our FOI requests and information received has helped to shed more light on Government programs, how budget is allocated and spent and brought about greater transparency and accountability.

However, the attitude of ‘How dare you ask us questions’ still remains

FOI in Africa: The Reality Cont’d This isn’t a stand alone experience for our organisation

Despite the significant increase in the number of countries recognizing the right to access information on the continent, a large portion of African States still seem unable or unwilling to adopt access to information laws

Governments still routinely refuse to provide citizens with even the most basic information, due to a combination of impunity and a lack of political will and sometimes the capacity of states/agencies to respond to demand for information

In Nigeria, the #openNASS campaign called on the National Parliament which passed the FOI bill into law to provide information and breakdown on their budget expenditure. The Parliament refused claiming that personal information of parliamentarians is at risk If such information is disclosed

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard to promote open and accountable

management of natural resources.

It seeks to strengthen Government and company systems, inform public debate and enhance trust

In each implementing country, it is supported by Government, civil society and companies working together

The management of natural resources in many countries especially in Africa has always led to conflicts. Think Diamonds in Sierra Leone/Liberia commonly referred to as Blood Diamonds

In all, 22 countries in Africa have subscribed to EITI, 16 are fully compliant, 4 are EITI candidate countries, while 2 countries (Central African Republic / Tanzania) have been suspended.

It is instructive to note that 2 countries in Southern Africa (South Africa/Botswana) who have a comparatively better management of its natural resources are not part of EITI

Roles of Government

As revenues shrink, falling oil prices/lower growth, it’s in the best interest of everyone (Govt, CSO, Private Sector) to have better accountability & transparency especially in the management of resources & information

Governments can take the lead by pushing bills on FOI, Fiscal responsbility and subscribing to the EITI

Governments should make available information on its budget in a clear manner and involve citizens in conversations and dialogue during the budget process

In Nigeria: Treasury Single Account As oil prices continues to fall and Government revenue dwindle, The

Government of Nigeria has adopted a Treasury Single Account to further control expenditures from its over 900 MDAs

An initial deadline set for MDAs to comply with the TSA in February 2015 wasn’t met. However the new administration imposed a new deadline of September 15, 2015. These saw greater compliance.

By the end of September 2015, N1.2trillion (6 billion Dollars) have been mopped up from Commercial banks back the the CBN.

The TSA has several benefits, two amongst them are it allows for timely and complete information on Government cash reserves as well as improve appropriation controls.

Role of Parliament:

To pass enabling laws that will ensure Accountability and transparency in Africa

Freedom of (access to) Information Laws

Fiscal responsibility Laws

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) and enabling laws

OVERSIGHT Functions!!!!

Roles of Civil Society/Youth

Advocate for the passing and strengthening of laws around accountability and transparency.

Test the laws when they are passed. Several African countries are not compliant with respecting the laws they pass

Educate members of the public especially about information that will benefit them

Use social media extensively ( Governments now increasingly care about their reputation on social media and they respond to trending allegations around accountability and transparency issues when it arises)

Success Stories: Mzalendo/Kenya

Mzalendo (Means Patriot in Swahili) is a Kenyan non-partisan project started in 2005 to keep an eye on the Kenyan parliament.

Mzalendo promotes greater public voice and enhance public participation in politics by providing relevant information about the National Assembly and Senate activities in Kenya

One of the things they do is produce Score Cards of MPs: Giving a simple & clear way for citizens to assess MP performances

BudgIT/Nigeria

BudgIT believes it is the right of every citizen to have access and also understand public budgets.

To make this happen, BudgIT takes budget information and converts this into infographics so that citizens can better understand it

They have worked on the Nigerian Budget, Budget for Ebola Response in Nigeria/Liberia as well as oil revenue in Nigeria

Success Story: Nigerian Government

In 2003, the Nigerian Government started publishing the monthly Federal allocation to states from the National accounts in Newspapers

This meant that state Governors could no longer hide the amount they collected from the Federal Government

In turn, this information empowered labour unions to negotiate for prompt payment of their salaries

Conclusion

Greater Accountability/Transparency is possible, when states, Parliaments and Civil Society work together and independently to promote a culture of accountability!