Freedom of Information in Liberia — Ambitious but Resolute

Albany Associates
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

Written by our Director of Training and Innovation, Jem Thomas

West Africa suffered horrific violence during its several civil wars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I know, I was there. Now those impoverished countries enjoy a difficult but welcome peace and look to building a brighter future. Liberia is one such country.

One the one hand Liberia is one of the poorest countries on the planet. On the other it is making headway, ambitious in its intent, stoic in its resolve and cautiously optimistic. One area exemplifying these characteristics is in media freedom and public information, in which it is leading the pack amongst its neighbours. I recently returned to West Africa to run a three-day workshop in campaign planning for Public Information Officers (PIOs), pictured above, as part of the USAID-funded Liberia Media Development Program, run by Internews partnered with Albany.

Effectively starting from a blank sheet, Liberia now has, as many commentators have stated, some of the best, most progressive media laws and regulations in Africa. Much effort over the last decade has been applied in building these and Albany, with Internews, have been proud to contribute to this endeavour.

However, passing laws and regulations, as good as they may be, is meaningless if they are not understood, utilised and enforced by those ruled and their rulers. Freedom of information (FOI) is a case in point. Liberia has passed an FOI law, mandating that government agencies enable the public to easily present FOI requests, with very few but reasonable restrictions, and that such requests be dealt with in a timely manner. In terms of responsible governance, this in itself is a far cry from anything the country has seen before.

But there’s the rub. Amid, what Liberians would admit themselves, a culture of secrecy, the public and government have a long way to go to realise the full potential of such relatively innovative and culturally new ways of thinking with regard to information. Is a good idea, legally enshrined, due to whither away due to ignorance and lack of will?

Not if the Liberian government PIOs and the Independent Information Commission (IIC) have anything to do with it. A recent three-day workshop in Monrovia demonstrated the drive, commitment and passion of these stalwart and feisty individuals. Coming from across government, each with their own agendas and policies, they were all committed to making FOI work. They realise it is an ambitious project, they recognise their constraints (culturally, financially, practically and politically) but are resolute, they are willing to learn from each other and they display a determination to making it work.

They fully recognise that sitting back and just waiting to ‘process’ FOI request is simply not enough. They fully understand that their job is to educate, promote and encourage the public to engage in the FOI process. And they realise that they can get this done only if they work together, not as isolated actors from disparate ministries.

The workshop gave me hope. Liberia is in a good place to make real positive change in this regard and its PIOs have shown that they can be a major force for good. This FOI endeavour remains ambitious but those charged with carrying it out are flexing their muscles. We salute them and will continue to support them.

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Albany Associates

We deliver comprehensive communications solutions & strategies in challenging, complex, & fragile environments across the #MiddleEast, #Africa, & #EasternEurope

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