The paradox of the right to information law in Africa

Growing adoption of the right to information in Africa should, in theory, improve access to government data, reduce corruption and expand the frontiers of democracy. Yet studies demonstrate that the right to information has contributed little if not nothing to improve the fledgling democracy in Africa. This paper investigates whether the implementation of the Right To Information law in Africa is a paradox? The paper contends that that corruption, human rights abuses, restrictive media, absence of media pluralism, denial of access to information, lack of transparency and accountability continue to undermine the very ideals of Right To Information Law. To resolve this paradox, the paper argues that the passage of the right to information is just one of the democratic tests to a country and will require far more than a passage to ensure its success. It argues that making information available will not prevent corruption if the conditions for publicity and accountability are weak. The paper contends that the RTI is dependent on a number of factors which may take long period to have an impact. Political leadership, civil society involvement and a balancing act that would address both access to government records and the protection of individual privacy are possibly the cure to this growing paradox.