HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 663248,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/663248/?format=api",
"text_counter": 229,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "soldiers were killed by the enemy. I asked myself: “In which country do we live?” Did we not see that when a country is under attack from the enemy, you cannot use access to information because it is there in the Constitution, for example, to reveal to the enemy the military capabilities of your country, because that is not in the national interest. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when terrorist attacks took place in 2001 in America, up to now, not a single picture of what happened has been released by the US authorities. People just see pictures of smoke and some aircraft striking a building, and that is it. However, we are told horrible things happened. Some people were jumping from 120th Floor of a building to their death. Those are not things you want to access and give the public in the national interest; so are issues to do with military and security operations, intelligence activities or intelligence sources. You cannot expect the national security intelligence service (NSIS) to publicise intelligence activities or the sources of their intelligence. The same applies to foreign government information which has implications on national security. So I hope as my Seconder seconds this motion, he will speak to the ilk that form the opposition and tell them that there comes a time when certain information cannot be released for good reasons, as required by law, justifiable in an open and democratic society, and also subject to the rights of other people. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the chief executive officer (CEO) of any public agency, a parastatal, a Government department, a county government department, is designated in Clause 7 as “the information access officer for the purposes of this Act.” The same Clause says, the CEO may delegate, but the responsibility to ensure that the public access information under this Act is on the CEO of the public agency concerned. They might delegate this responsibility under Clause 7(2) to a particular officer who is under them. Under Clause 8, an application to access information is supposed to be made in writing and in English or Kiswahili. I am thinking even if it is made in vernacular and translated, I see no reason why that should not be considered, because, for example, some of our citizens are not fluent in English and Kiswahili and they may want certain information, especially now with county governments, a lot of activities and information is held at that level. Therefore, that is something we might want to look at as we go forward. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the process of considering or processing the application is time bound under Clause 9. Twenty one days are provided for processing that request. If it is an urgent matter, concerning the life or liberty of a person, for example, somebody is held in a place you do not know, there are suspicions that maybe he is held in a police station without communication, as lawyers say, and that information is required, you cannot wait for twenty one days because that kind of strange or arbitrary arrest could endanger the person’s life, health or liberty. In such cases, under Clause 9, such requests must be processed within 48 hours, but if the situation is complex or requires huge volume of information, within not more than 15 days. I also want to highlight Clause 12, ‘That no fees should be charged or levied” in relation to applying to access information, to make sure that as many citizens as possible, are able to access information. Under the same Clause, there is the right of any person The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}