Records and good governance: Running away from accountability. The case of Zambia

Abstract

Records are created as a by-product of the business activities taking place as an organization in carry out its mandated activities. Subsequently, these records will provide the ultimate proof or evidence of the activities being undertaken by the organization. The records will be the means by which organizations can account for their activities. We argued that if this is the case, then, these records must be management properly in a manner that those records that must be there in the organization should actually be there and those that need not be should not be there. Furthermore, those that should be there should be complete, reliable and accurate. They should be equally accessible at all times. This is cardinal because records are a means of which organizations can account for their activities and transaction. In this regard, well-managed records can be seen as an instrument for achieving accountability and transparency. We contend that The Zambian Governments from the colonial masters to the post independence period to present, they have been running way from the issues of transparency and accountability by destroying records and not allowing for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill. The article argues that archivists and records managers must be proactive in trying to come up with progressive information policies.