NBS CONTINUE TO EXCEL AS THE OPEN AND TRASPARENT PUBLIC INSTITUTION

NATIONAL Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has become the second winner of the year 2015 as an open and transparent public institution based on the citizen's access to information.

According to research conducted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in 2015 NBS has emerged the second winner among eight Government Institutions which were involved in the assessment,  namely; the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development (MoLHHSD), Tanzania Communications Regulation Authority (TCRA) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Other Government Institutions which were involved are the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), Judiciary of Tanzania, Ministry of East Africa Co-operation Tanzania (MEAC), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

The National Housing Corporation emerged as the first winner and was awarded the Golden Key Award while the National Bureau of Statistics ranked second. On the other hand, the Ministry of East Africa Co-operation received the  Golden Padlock Award as the Most Secretive Public Institution in Tanzania.

NBS, as the National Statistical Office in the country, continues to be a candlestick of institutions which provides  its information openly to the public, as it emerged the first winner in 2014 and was awarded a Golden Key Award whereby this year it emerged the second winner among eight Government Institustions involved in the MISA research.

The Golden Key Award which was handled to National Bureau of Statistcs (NBS) after emerging the first winner of the year  2014 as an open and transparent  public institution based on the citizen's access to information.

Recognising the importance of access to information, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)  has been conducting annual researches aimed at assessing the level of public access to information held by the Government and public institutions in the Southern African Development  Community (SADC) region.

This study has been conducted in the Southern African Development  Community (SADC) region for the past six consecutive years in  For this year, MISA has conducted research in Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Malawi.

The main objective of MISA research is to make public institutions more aware of their role in advocating for the rights of access to information as an essential public service.