(Issue, Monday, 19 September 2016)
Last
week, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) conducted a two-day seminar with lawmakers
of the country, which looked at access to information and freedom of
expression.
The
engagement of the National Assembly by the press umbrella body on such relevant
issues as freedom of expression and access to information deserves applause,
because in the first place it enhances the fact that the press in this country
is for all and sundry, especially for our lawmakers through whom our laws are
passed.
It
is very essential that issues of access to information and freedom of
expression are discussed, and their relevance to national development
understood by our lawmakers.
Access
to information and freedom of expression are the true basis of a nation’s peace
and security, as well as development. This is because communication creates
while silence destroys. Where there is no communication, in other words, access
to information, development is deterred and progress is stifled.
So
it is pertinent that such advocacy is maintained and access to information is
made a norm in this country as other nations, even closer to us, have
instituted such a condition, for the good of the country.
According
to reports, presently The Gambia is the only English-speaking West African
country without a right to information law of a sort. Reports have it that Sierra Leone, Nigeria,
and Liberia have all promulgated laws on right to information, while such a law
has been tabled before the parliament in Ghana.
The
National Assembly member for Banjul North is right in saying that “access to
information is a must; that the press must be given adequate information to
transmit to the public.”
Where
there is access to information speculations are limited and as correct
information is disseminated in the society, people are empowered to make
informed decisions and choices on relevant aspects of national development.
So
all must really embrace and support the service of the press by giving them
access to information and promote national development.
Indeed,
the workshops being rolled out by GPU on freedom of expression and access to
information can really enhance the growth and development of the country.
As
the GPU-GAMES project manager put it, the workshop is particularly essential
because all laws pass through the National Assembly; “so it is important to
remind ourselves again of the importance of expressing oneself and how access
to information is important in nation-building”.
We
would, therefore, like to commend and encourage the GPU to keep it up, as well
as thank the funders of such a laudable initiative: advocacy on access to
information and freedom of expression.
““If
we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t
believe in it at all.”
Noam
Chomsky
