Proposed law empowers people to demand information from State

The Access to Information Bill, 2015 proposed by Nyeri MP Priscilla Nyokabi (pictured on the right with National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga) will give any citizen the right to apply to know what public officers are paid and makes it an offence if such information is not provided. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Anyone can also apply to know what an MP, senator, governor, MCA, judge, a member of a constitutional commission, and any other public officer, earns every month.

  • The Access to Information Bill, 2015 will give any citizen the right to apply to know what public officers are paid.

  • The Bill sponsored by Nyeri MP Priscilla Nyokabi is now before the Senate and seeks to give effect to Article 35 of the Constitution.

Kenyans will soon be able to demand to know what the President, the Deputy President and other top public officers earn every month, according to a proposed law that has been passed by the National Assembly.

Anyone can also apply to know what an MP, senator, governor, MCA, judge, a member of a constitutional commission, and any other public officer, earns every month.

The Access to Information Bill, 2015 will give any citizen the right to apply to know what public officers are paid and makes it an offence if such information is not provided “expeditiously and inexpensively.”

The Bill sponsored by Nyeri MP Priscilla Nyokabi is now before the Senate and seeks to give effect to Article 35 of the Constitution that declares that every citizen has a right to information held by the State.

More than often salaries of top government officials are rarely made public although the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has established caps for holders of most offices.   

“A public entity shall facilitate access to information and the information may include salary scales of its officers by grade,” says Section 5 of the Bill.

The Bill is among those whose passage was timed in the Constitution and was supposed to be passed last August.

The House, however, extended by a year the deadline and should be approved by August 27 this year.

It also sets tough penalties for individuals who refuse to provide such information after a request has been certified.

The penalties include a fine not exceeding Sh500, 000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

Offences covered include hiding, destroying, erasing or blocking access to information when it has been legally requested.