Kampala:  Uganda joins the rest of the world today to celebrate the Access to Information Day, with a call on the government to show commitment and implement the Access to Information Act, passed by Parliament five years ago. The day's events will include the Right to Know Day dialogue in Kampala with key speakers to include, Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, academicians Peter Mwesige and Prof. Fredrick Juuko, Human Rights Commission chairperson Med Kaggwa and legislator Steven Tashobya.

The activists are also asking the government to either repeal or amend existing laws that are a draw-back on the right of access to information. The say the negative laws include the Oath of Secrecy Act and the Official Secrets Act, whose provisions are at variance with the Access to Information Act and Article 41 of the Constitution.

Activists say the Act gives corrupt public officials a cover to deny the public access to information in their possession. The Coalition on Freedom of Information with the Human Rights Network have called on the government to put in place regulations for the implementation of the Access to Information Act.

The Information Minister, Ms Kabakumba Masiko, told a team of international freedom defenders last week that she was finalising guidelines for the implementation of the law. The day comes at a time when two senior Daily Monitor journalists Charles Mwanguhya and Angelo Izama are battling the government over the latter's refusal to disclose details of the Oil Sale Agreements of the country's promising oil sector.

A petition by the two was dismissed by the Kampala Chief Magistrate, saying the petitioners had not disclosed how their request for information would benefit the public and that government business was not always supposed to be in public domain. The government only tabled the oil sale agreements when legislators insisted on disclosure but theSpeaker was requested not to publish them to members.