Draft K.B.R./N.S.D. 17.09.2010 Bill No. of 2010 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, 2010 (Published on , 2010) MEMORANDUM 1. A draft of the above Bill, which it is intended to present to the National Assembly, is set out below. 2. On 8th July, 2010, the National Assembly resolved, in terms of Standing Order 60(2), to allow Honourable Dumelang Saleshando, Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central, to bring before Parliament, a Private Member’s Bill allowing for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act. 3. The object of the Bill is to extend the right of members of the public to access information in the possession of public authorities by, inter alia (a) making available to the public, information about the operations of public authorities and, in particular, ensuring that the rules and practices affecting members of the public in their dealings with public authorities are readily available to persons affected by those rules and practices; (b) creating a general right of access to information in documentary form in the possession of public authorities, limited only by the exceptions and exemptions necessary for the protection of essential public interests and the private and business affairs of persons in respect of whom information is collected and held by public authorities; and (c) creating a right to bring about the amendment of records containing personal information that is incomplete, incorrect, misleading or not relevant to the purpose for which the document is held. 4. Part II of the Bill provides for the right of access to information, including the general right of access to an official document, (clause 5), where such access shall not be obtained, (clause 6), how one is to make a request for access, (clause 9), and the methods of access, (clause 15). 5. Part III of the Bill provides for the publication of certain documents and information by public authorities, including the requirement that certain documents are to be made available by public authorities for inspection and purchase, (clause 22), and statements are to be published by public authorities in relation to the possession of certain documents, 1