Democracy dies in darkness: The importance of access to information in the implementation of democracy in Africa

Andrew Karamagi

Background

All civilizations, eras and epochs known to mankind have had information (synonymous with knowledge, communication and learning) at the heart of their existence. Whether expressed in writing, passed to new generations by oral tradition or stored by other means, information was central to the Aztecs, the Egyptians, Greeks, Malians, and successive Chinese dynasties, to mention a few. Even more recent watershed moments like the Industrial Revolution[1] and more to the democratic ideal, the Enlightenment[2] of the Eighteenth Century.

Slightly under three hundred years of the democratic experiment, the democratic ideal has been characterized as one that aspires towards attaining the following things:

* Equality of all persons before and under the law;

* Resolution of disagreement through peaceful dialogue;

* Respecting difference and nurturing social renewal without conflict; and,

* Representative government that is anchored on fundamental rights, checks on the exercise of power, impartial administration and participatory engagement.[3]

From the foregoing, it is evident that the role of access to information is pivotal to the attainment of true democracy—not just for empires of the past but fledgling and mature democracies today.

A Précis of Access to Information

In the broadest sense, access to information has been defined as the freedom or ability to identify, obtain and make use of data or information effectively.[4] In perhaps its most limited sense, access to information has been codified as a legitimate aspiration for citizens in any (open) society. Constitutions, international instruments[5] and other forms of subsidiary legislation have been enacted to actualize this notion.

Discourse on access to information has been a topic of significant intellectual endeavour, policy drafting, civil society engagement and the source of government opprobrium against professions like (investigative) journalism, law and vocations like political science.

Access to Information is therefore an indispensible notion that societies which aspire for progress ought to find accommodation for and embrace within their respective body polities—not just as a matter of law, but in daily applications, political practice and culture.

The Dividends of Access to Information

Enlightened Citizens:

Where access to information thrives both as a right and in daily practice, a given population is more exposed and informed. This means that their participation in public affairs (processes like elections) will be premised on the ability to make informed choices.

Platforms for Expression of Ideals and Views:

Access to Information is alive when all persons in a given polity are able to express their views which can in turn be received, accessed, interrogated and/or shared with others. As such, access to information facilitates not merely the ability for knowledge to be obtained as and when the need arises but also the capacity to express oneself.

Exposure to different cultures and set-ups:

The liberty to obtain information beyond one’s geographical location or socioeconomic circumstances and political situation allows for exposure to the different cultures and set-ups that exist in other societies. Through accessing information, individuals will learn about, for example, the parliamentary system of representation in the Commonwealth, the bicameral legislature of the United States and the Communist Party’s ubiquitous footprint in the political processes of China. This nurtures pluralist (as opposed to esoteric) thinking which is healthy for democracy.

Eases mobilization and organization:

Information, as the cliché notes, is power. This power can be harnessed to facilitate citizen mobilization and organization around causes and initiatives. It is even better when the stock of knowledge in a society can be accessed by its everyday populace. That way, it is easier to mobilize around specific ideals and organize along such formations as will enable the realization of a given objective. In the absence of information, mobilization and organization is a near-impossibility.

Checks to power/authority:

Access to Information is a potent tool insofar as restraining power/authority is concerned. Informed citizens can query, comment about and even suggest recommendations for elected and appointed leaders on how to go about a matter of public concern. Corruption and other forms of abuse of power can be competently checked when access to information is treated as a must-have in a given society.

Vibrant Fourth Estate:

Media (both electronic and print) survives best when access to information is observed and not stifled. The Fourth Estate can then perform its role of informing, questioning and keeping a spotlight on the use of political power. The media affords both the duty bearer (government) and the rights holders (citizens) a space within which to hold discussions and debates over matters of interest. A free media makes for a healthy democracy.  

Opportunities for Bolstering Access to Information

The Digital Revolution:

The past decade and a half has registered an unprecedented explosion of information that can be attributed to tremendous technological advances in the field of Information and Computing Technologies. Of specific importance is the advent of social networking sites and platforms that allow for real-time communication and exchange of ideas, views and opinions between citizens all over the world. This Information Age should be harnessed for democratization purposes as it facilitates the free flow of ideas which is crucial to democratic processes.

Dawn of the smart phone:

Related to the foregoing point is the current era of miniaturization in telecommunications. Today, a mobile phone has the capacity to record video footage, access the internet, retrieve literature and a host of other things that were previously not possible with a hand-held device. The speed of communication has therefore multiplied several times, thereby breaking the monotony of news sources and sometimes often biased media houses, thereby giving the citizen an upper hand in access to information.

Citizen Journalism:

Journalism was previously the preserve of professionals trained in mass communication or related disciplines. Today, social media and innovations like blogging have made it possible for all citizens to be able to be their own journalists and contribute both to the available stock of knowledge but also pry open previously inaccessible vaults of information through vigilance and avid interest in especially the exercise of power and distribution of resources.

Domestic Policy enactment and Legislation:

A number of countries across Africa have appreciated the importance of writing policies and enacting laws that make access to information a right and not a privilege. These laws have enabled everyday citizens, media houses and scholars to access information for their use. These have been a helpful addition to the realization of democracy and should be encouraged. 

International Instruments in favour of access to information:

The enactment of domestic policy and legislation in favour of access to information has been buoyed by international instruments and African conventions[6] that make it an issue of international importance and practice. Such enactments should be encouraged and given more space in international platforms and individual countries for the benefit of democratization.

Encouraging innovation, information sharing and learning:

Access to Information has enabled citizens to innovate, share experiences and learn from their different experiences.  It has bridged peoples drawn from different societies and helped them share ideas which have contributed towards democratization. As an example, polarized societies such as East and West Germany were able to conduct reunification in part because of information sharing and experiential learning.

Threats to Access to Information

Media Concentration:

Even though the Fourth Estate is a bastion of access to information, it ought to be noted that the practice of centralized ownership runs counter to the democratic ideal. This is because a singular owner for most if not all media houses operating in a given country means that the biases and interests of the owner can potentially over-shadow the broader imperative of access to information.

State-orchestrated Clampdowns and narrowed political space:

As some of Africa’s political regimes attempt to hold back the tide of access to information, they have employed suppressive tactics (ranging from law, policy to actual repression in form of prosecution, arrests and cancellation of licenses or claw-backs on access to information) with a view to controlling or altogether restricting how much information may be shared between citizens.

Self Censorship:

As a result of the fears of backlash that abide among citizens generally and media practitioners specifically, the self-inflicted injury of self censorship has gained currency. This manifests itself when a media house or an individual for instance restrains themselves from expressing a view in its fullness because of the fear of reprisal by the powers that be. This is a drawback on democratization and should be discouraged.

Poor reading culture:

The age of digitized information has had a negative effect on many reading cultures across Africa. More often, information has had to be packaged in a fashion that entices a largely disinterested readership. As such, governments are able to get away with a lot of indiscretions that are hidden in voluminous policy documents, lengthy legislation and obscured budget papers. Uninformed citizens are incapable of constructive participation in democratic endeavours, much less challenging the abuse of power.

The Cost of Information:

Even where the right to information has been promulgated, access to information has got implications of a financial nature to it. Newspapers, electronic data and other sources cost money. For a continent which has a significant number of its citizens engaged in hand-to-mouth survival, information is a luxury. This means that access to information remains a theory for millions even though they may be interested in or in fact participate in a democratic exercise such as an election.

Conclusion

The import of access to information in Africa’s democratization cannot be gainsaid. There is a proportionate relationship between the existence and endurance of democracy in open societies as compared to those that are closed. It is more than the holding of regular elections, the existence of print and electronic media and the veneer of institutional restraints (checks and balances) to especially executive power.

Access to information expands the worldview of citizens, facilitates intra-country learning and sharing and provides a platform for self expression among others. African governments should undertake to foster access to information not just for its political output but for the socioeconomic benefits it affords a given country/society over time.

Recommended Reading

Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa 2000

African Charter on Human and People’s Rights 1981

African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance 2007

SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport 2000

Declaration on Information and Communications Technology 2001

Treaty of ECOWAS 1975

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966

International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights 1966

Proscovia Svard, Freedom of Information Laws and Information Access: The Case of Sierra Leone, Sage Journals, April 2016

Curran J Gurevitch, Rethinking Media and Democracy, Mass Media and Society, New York, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000

Access to Information in Africa: Law, Culture and Practice—Series: Afrika Studiecentrum Series, Volume 27 (Eds., Fatima Diallo and Richard Calland), 2013

[1] Spanned the period between 1760 and 1840

[2] The word Enlightenment denotes the advent of an intellectual movement (mainly in France, Britain and Germany) which advocated freedom, democracy and reason as the primary values of society

[3] Ibid., 1

[4] freedominfo.org

[5] African Charter on Human and People’s Rights 1981

[6] Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa 2002