The Mozambican Council of Ministers (Cabinet) on Tuesday approved a set of regulations on the application of the law on freedom of information, passed by the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, last year.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the government spokesperson Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide, said that the law and its regulations apply to all state bodies, to municipalities and to those private bodies which, under law or contract, undertake activities of public interest or benefit from public resources.
Although the law is a year old, it has been difficult to apply without a set of regulations giving the details of how state bodies must respond to requests for information.
“The law states that all citizens have the right to consume public information”, said Saide. All the institutions of the public administration must have websites where this information is made available to the public in electronic form.
Furthermore, when citizens request information from public institutions it must be provided speedily. The law, Saide said, gives the institutions a deadline of 21 days to provide the information requested.