A Joint Project of Transparency Mauritius and the Students’ Union of the University of Mauritius, sponsored by the Embassy of the United States of America), this public speaking contest on the theme ‘The Pros and Cons of a Freedom of Information Act in Mauritius’, had 11 participants for the finals held on Wednesday 9th March 2016 at the Paul Octave Wiehé Auditorium, Réduit.
The Winner was Ms Jaleela Hassennally and the Runner-Up was Mr Nicholas Frichot.
Shields were remitted to the winners by Ms Susan Falatko, Acting Ambassador at the Embassy of the United States of America.
The Members of the Jury were: Ms Susan Falatko (Chairperson of the Jury), Acting Ambassador at the Embassy of the United States of America; Reverent Ian Ernest, Archbishop at the Anglican Church of Indian Ocean and; Mr Rajen Bablee, Executive Director of Transparency Mauritius
Freedom of Information is a fundamental pillar for good governance and an effective tool against corruption and Transparency Mauritius is looking forward to have a law to guarantee Freedom of Information or the Right to Information enacted in Mauritius.
Transparency Mauritius has welcomed the Cabinet decision of 22 January 2016 to the effect that “Cabinet has taken note that the Freedom of Information Bill, as announced in the Government Programme 2015-2019, is being prepared. The main objective of the Bill will be to promote transparency and accountability in public administration”.
The Government Programme 2015-2019 mentioned: “A Freedom of Information Act will be brought forward to promote transparency and accountability in public administration and more particularly in contract allocations” (258) and, “A Public Service Call Centre will be created to act as a one stop shop and information centre to help track applications made by citizens and provide quick information on Government services” (157).
This competition was organised for the students of the University of Mauritius to further sustain anti-corruption efforts by empowering the youth to share their views on measures to fight against corruption and promote a culture of Good Governance, Ethics, Integrity and Transparency.
Click on the link below to access the speech of the Winners:
