I believe a freedom of Information Bill if passed (in an authentic form, rather than in a fundamentally diluted version-which we must guard against) will be an important element in restructuring our politics and democracy.
We have a political system that is not accountable to the people-votes do not necessarily determine who wins elections; parties are not internally democratic; the economy is not significantly dependent on taxes; corruption and abuse of office is endemic; and elected officers become masters rather than servants of the electorate, once in office.
I believe access to information is a fundamental plank in addressing this “colonial” political system.
Of course there must be other planks – civic citizenship, popular participation by elite and middle class groups, internal democracy within political parties, electoral reform, and strengthening INEC and judicial independence amongst others.
I believe that because our current class of political overlords understand the real possibility that greater access to government information can severely erode their political prerogatives and power and expose corruption and maladministration they will not willingly allow its passing.
So civil society must increase the pressure and seek international support.
We must also put individual legislators on the line to indicate whether they support FOI or not.
4 comments:
Hi Opeyemi! Hi everyone!! I'm soo SAD i missed all the Obama/McCain rhetoric. I've been travelling/hustling!! There was absolutely no voice for McCain! Well that voice is here!
My Coherence Theories of Truth are an assortment of my perspectives, that hinge their relevance, on the assumption that the truth is primarily a property of 'Whole Systems' of propositions that can be ascribed to individual propositions only derivatively according to their 'Coherence with the Whole'.
Please find below my first article of many to come regarding Obama and his 'messanaic' promises!
BYE BYE BYE...‘OBA-IDEN’! : With Stilettos and a Smile, Sarah Palin Steals Obama’s moment.
Every time I think maybe I should have become a musician, something happens in the sphere of politics that makes me go…well maybe not! If you have missed the last 12 years of politics in the US, not to worry, these last two years will have made up for what you missed. If you have missed the last two years, well…I have no words for you, except brace yourself for the next 3 months!
We and most of the World are all just mending from the noisome brouhaha that came from the recent DNC jamboree in Denver, Colorado. It was a very well put together seminar, replete with awards and several red carpet moments.
By day 4, Obama and his camp were reeling from the most stirring and important speech he would ever deliver. The grandiose setting for his acceptance speech was rockstar majestic.
From the podium that went into the ground after his speech, to the Greek pantheon-like backdrop he stood in front of, nothing said ‘I am your messiah, vote for me’, like his closing speech did. It was, for all intents and purposes, a fantastic convention, strangely for the Democrats who are adroit at not being organized. The Democratic National Convention was ‘Grandiosity’ personified!
The news cycle was hovering around Obama’s acceptance speech and how the Clintons’ especially Hillary, stole the show at the DNC in Denver, when all of a sudden the rumor that the McCain camp were about to announce their VeeP pick, filtered in.
The usual suspects/options had been narrowed down to former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney and Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty. Two hours to his announcement, we would hear that Mitt and Tim were not in the vicinity of the McCain announcement. The news wire went crazy. Some journalist for Fox News Network sent an e-mail saying she just saw Sarah Palin land at a nearby airport and was promptly whisked away by waiting jeeps. Everybody went crazy! Though she was on the long list, hers wasn’t a name that came up during frequent VeeP selection discussions. Within a couple of hours, a senior McCain aide confirmed that Sarah Palin would be introduced soon as John McCain’s running mate. Everyone went wild. It was shocking and pleasantly surprising; A political masterstroke of the Karl Rove kind.
Her story, like Obama’s, is most remarkable, and represents the best America has to offer. A moose burger loving, M16 holding, game hunting, Christian mother of five, her pick as Veep changed the dynamic of the ensuing news cycle. It totally obliterated the excellent speech Obama had just given. It was a political masterstroke, if I have ever seen one.
For starters, she has the most executive experience of the four candidates. Yes! She is the only one who has managed a budget of any kind. She has experience dealing with Oil majors, taking on members of her party and passing one of the most far reaching finance reform bills. She has consistently reached across party lines to access expertise, suggestions and advice that would be of advance the cause of her government and the Alaskan people. Her 90% approval rating is the highest the country has ever seen for a Governor. And most important to the American people and the Media in these new strange new political climes, her own personal story of how she faced tragedy and adversity and overcame it.
Experience is now off the table in this falls’ campaign. If it comes up, where would you rather have it? Top or bottom? The top of the ticket is imbued with experience. The bottom…, well the bottom is just refreshing! P.s. it also does not hurt that the bottom is a looker!
Nothing will energize the Republican ticket like this pick! They will go crazy! Democrats bring it on!
Sarah has been an advocate for what’s right and just! Women, Republicans, Hillary Democrats and Hillary Republicans (yes they now exist) the World over are all ebullient with the GOP pick. She has commonality and threads that most American Women and Women the World over can relate to and connect with.
She also has been commander-in-chief of the National Guard, even if it was only for her state of 600,000. There’s a story of how when she resumed office she saw the private jets that her Republican predecessor had bought for the office of the Governor. She told an aide ‘take a picture and put that plane for sale on e-bay. We don’t need it!’ The private jet was sold at a profit! Her conservative credentials are all on point. Evangelicals and Social conservatives can all now let McCain be.
The American Presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. With Obama and Biden you have people who will talk! With McCain and Palin, you have people who are on the cusp of making history and who will deliver.
I must say "Whole Truths" that i have very little regard for Sarah Palin. She is shallow, ill-informed, and is just a charade put up by the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. Sarah Palin is evidence that the Republican extremists learnt nothing from the eight years of Bush's incompetence. It simply is a shame.
Opeyemi
B’okritov Opeyemi (means Good Morning in Hebrew). I understand your devotion to Barack. A Black successful man anywhere in the World is worth celebrating. If I were in his campaign, his colour would be all I would need to be a die-hard supporter; but I dare say that you should not discountenance Mrs. Palin. Have you ever run for office in the US? You are in the spotlight 24/7 and vetted by every idiot with a camera & wireless connection.
Every gaffe made is magnified 100 times! Even the American media is struggling to understand what her nuances and comportment is like. She’s gradually being introduced to America & the World! Please do not be hasty to judge and keep your arguments about the issues!!
Esoteric swansongs are all the rage now. These are all pointless polemics.
If you stand for the core values of the Democratic Party, then you are within your rights to support them. If you are Pro-choice, and believe in abortion, you should support the party. If you believe in Medicaid run by the Government, the kind that has been consistently incompetent & inefficient, then you should support the party. If you believe in a premature exit from interventions in Iraq & Afghanistan that have freed these countries from the grip of local tyrants and preserved America from people who would want to harm them & their way of life, then you should support the party. If you are for increased taxes due to 6% of the population having financial challenges, then you should support the party. If you are for negotiating with terrorists, and yielding America’s position, then you should support the party. If you are for America’s continued dependence on foreign oil and letting speculators run wild, then you should support the party. If you are for altering what the traditional definition of marriage from that between a Man and a Woman, then you should support the party. If you are for lesbians and homosexuals being recognized by the Federal constitution, then you should support the party.
Have you ever asked yourself how the race would have been if Obama had been a Republican? What the dynamics of the race would have looked like? I’m sure he’d have been in the White House already! Republicans don’t care whether you are White, Black, Man or Woman! I have no issues with the young gentleman. I have problems with the party he chose as a platform! Remember this is the Party that went to war over the Republicans’ decision to abolish slavery. I am not an American, Opeyemi, but as a student of History and international politics, I can assure you that this is the best World power the World has ever seen! This you know! Where you at China during the Olympics? It was like a Graveyard! They herded all their poor people and locked them up. Opeyemi, there is evil in the World! This much is true, and ‘with great power, comes great responsibility’! If after you saw the VeeP debates with Joe Biden and how ‘informed’ she was, you still think Sarah’s ‘shallow, ill-informed, and just a charade put up by the extreme right wing of the Republican Party’ then I have no words to describe this. Issues! Issues!! Issues!!!
The war against terrorists was as a result of the eight years of levity by Bill Clinton in dealing with this problem. I love him dearly, and this was the only area he faulted.
The global financial crisis has been a bubble waiting to burst since the days of market liberalization economics made famous by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. America’s insatiable want for acquisition through credit is the reason they, and by proxy the World, are where we are today. Opeyemi! You are a very smart Economist, and I’m sure you know this.
Did you see yesterday’s debate? and Sarah's appearance on SNL? Your take would be nice!
I would post an article I wrote on G.Dubya after I get your opinion on the debate!
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