26.Annual reports
(1) The Commission shall submit an annual report to Parliament and may, at any time, submit special reports to the Cabinet Secretary on any matter relating to any of its functions.
(2) The annual report submitted by the Commission under subsection (1) shall include an overall assessment by the Commission of the performance of the Government with regard to access to information during the period under review.
(3) The Cabinet Secretary shall lay the annual report of the Commission before Parliament within two months of receipt thereof, with any comments thereon which the Cabinet Secretary considers necessary.
(4) The Cabinet Secretary shall be required, in every year, to report to Parliament the steps which the Government has taken in implementing recommendations made in the Commission's reports.
Plain English Summary
Every year, the Commission must write a big report for Parliament and can also send special updates to the government minister at any time. This yearly report must grade how well the government did at sharing information with the public. The minister has two months to show this report to Parliament along with their own notes, and every single year the minister must tell Parliament exactly what steps the government took to follow the Commission's advice.
27.Reports by public entities
On or before the 30th day of June of each year, every public entity shall submit to the Commission a report covering the preceding year, which shall include—
(a) the number of requests for information received by the entity and the number of requests processed;
(b) the number of determinations made by the authority not to comply with the requests for information under section 8, and the main grounds for such determinations;
(c) the average number of days taken by the entity to process different types of requests;
(d) the total amount of fees collected by the public entity while processing requests; and
(e) the number of full-time staff of the public entity devoted to processing requests for information and the total amount expended by the entity for processing such requests.
Plain English Summary
By June 30th of every year, every government office must send a report to the Commission about the past year. This report must show how many requests for files they received and answered, how many times they said no and why, how many days it usually took to answer, how much money they collected for copies, and how many full-time workers they have doing this job along with the cost of paying them.
28.Offences and penalties
(1) Any person who knowingly discloses exempt information in contravention of this Act commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
(2) It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (1) that the exempt information disclosed was already in the public domain at the time of disclosure.
(3) An information access officer who—
(a) refuses to assist a requester who is unable to write to reduce the oral request to writing in the prescribed form and provide a copy to the applicant in accordance with section 8(2);
(b) refuses to accept a request for information;
(c) fails to respond to a request for information within the prescribed time; or
(d) fails to comply with the duty to take reasonable steps to make information available in a form that is capable of being read, viewed or heard by a requester with disability in accordance with section 11(3), commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both.
(4) Any person who—
(a) charges a fee exceeding the actual costs of making copies of such information and supplying them to the applicant;
(b) fails to respond to a request for information required for the exercise or protection of a right in accordance with the requirements of this Act;
(c) fails to respond to a request to correct personal information; or
(d) it having been ascertained that information held is out of date,
inaccurate or incomplete, fails within the prescribed time, or within a reasonable time if no time is prescribed, to correct, destroy or delete the information, or to attach a statement to the information in accordance with section 13, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both.
(5) Any person who is convicted of an offence under section 18(3) after a request has been made for disclosure of the information in question, with the intention of preventing the disclosure of that information in response to that request is liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.
(6) Any relevant private body that fails to make publicly available the name and contact details of its information access officer or officers commits and offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings.
(7) Any relevant private body that is convicted, or any officer of which is convicted of an offence under this Act, or which, although not convicted is in serious breach of this Act may, after a fair hearing, be debarred from entering into any future contract with government under the laws relating to matters of procurement and disposal.
(8) A person who—
(a) fails to attend before the Commission in accordance with any summons or order issued under subsection 23(1)(a);
(b) knowingly gives any false or misleading statement of information to the Commission; or
(c)causes an obstruction or disturbance in the course of any proceedings before the Commission,
commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.
(9) A person shall not be criminally liable for the disclosure or authorisation of the disclosure made in good faith in reliance on this Act.
(10) A person to whom information is disclosed under this Act, conveys that information to others but who alters the information, or conceals part of the information or misrepresents the information, with intent to deceive, commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.