WHO OWNS THE INFORMATION IN TUNISIA?

An Investigation into Access to Public Data, Public Money and Government Projects

By Barhoumi Mohamed Chaeib
Journalist & Researcher – Tunisia
ATEP MED – Arabic Digital Center for Media and Development

Introduction: A Right That Exists on Paper

In a modern state, information about public money should not belong exclusively to government offices, administrative departments or officials.

It belongs, in principle, to the public.

Every dinar allocated to a public project, every major public investment, every infrastructure programme and every development initiative raises a legitimate question: what was planned, how much was allocated, who implemented it, what was achieved and what happened afterward?

For journalists, researchers and citizens, these questions are not simply matters of curiosity. They are part of the public interest.

Tunisia has established a legal framework recognizing the right of access to information. Organic Law No. 2016-22 of 24 March 2016 explicitly aims to guarantee access to information, strengthen transparency and accountability, improve public services and support public participation in public policy. The law applies to a broad range of public bodies, including ministries, public institutions, regional and local public structures and other entities covered by its provisions.

Yet the existence of a legal right does not automatically mean that obtaining information is always simple, rapid or practical.

This is where the real journalistic question begins.

The Information Behind Public Money

A public project rarely begins with construction.

Before a road is built, a hospital is renovated, a water network is extended or a regional development programme is launched, there are decisions, budgets, studies, contracts, schedules and administrative documents.

These documents tell the story of public expenditure.

They can reveal the original objective of a project, the estimated cost, the implementation timetable, the responsible institution and, in many cases, the results expected from the investment.

Tunisia's access-to-information legislation specifically provides for the publication of information concerning public programmes, budgets, achievements, public procurement and its implementation results, as well as information concerning public finances and public expenditure.

This creates an important principle for investigative journalism:

A journalist should not have to begin with rumours when documents can provide evidence.

The challenge, however, is knowing where the information is, whether it has been published, whether it is updated and how easily it can be obtained.

When the Citizen Becomes a Researcher

The right to information is not reserved for professional journalists.

Under Tunisia's legal framework, any natural or legal person may submit a written request for access to information. The applicant is not required to explain why the information is being requested. The law also provides different forms of access, including consultation, paper copies, electronic copies where possible and extracts.

This is significant.

A citizen who wants to understand a local development project should theoretically be able to ask for information.

A researcher studying regional inequalities should be able to request relevant documents.

A journalist investigating public expenditure should be able to seek records that help verify claims.

The question is therefore no longer simply whether the right exists.

The deeper question is:

How effectively can this right be used in practice?

The Distance Between a Legal Right and Practical Access

There is often a difference between having information available somewhere in the administrative system and making that information genuinely accessible.

A document may exist but not be easy to locate.

A public institution may publish information but not necessarily in the format most useful for analysis.

A project may be mentioned in a general report without providing all the details necessary to understand its actual implementation.

A budget figure may be available without sufficient information to connect it to a specific project or geographic area.

For investigative journalism, these differences matter.

A journalist does not simply need a number.

The journalist needs to know what the number represents.

Was it an initial allocation or the final expenditure?

Was the project completed?

Was the original timetable respected?

Was the contract modified?

Were additional funds allocated?

Was the infrastructure actually delivered?

Is it operating today?

These questions transform a document into an investigation.

Public Procurement: Following the Paper Trail

Public procurement is one of the areas where access to information can become particularly important.

A public contract can involve significant amounts of public money. The journalist's role is not automatically to accuse anyone of wrongdoing.

The role is to follow the available evidence.

Who announced the project?

What was the estimated cost?

What was the procurement procedure?

Who was selected?

What were the contractual deadlines?

Was the project completed?

Were amendments made?

Were additional expenditures recorded?

Were the expected results achieved?

These questions can be asked without assuming that irregularities exist.

That distinction is essential.

Good investigative journalism does not begin with a conclusion and then search for evidence.

It begins with a question and follows the evidence wherever it leads.

The Problem of Fragmented Information

One of the practical challenges facing researchers and journalists is that information can be distributed across different institutions and documents.

A development project may involve a ministry, a regional authority, a local structure, a public institution, a contractor and possibly an international financing partner.

Each may hold part of the story.

The journalist must therefore reconstruct the complete picture.

This is where research becomes more than collecting documents.

It becomes the work of connecting them.

One document may reveal the budget.

Another may reveal the timetable.

A third may provide the procurement information.

A fourth may describe the expected results.

Field reporting can then determine whether the situation on the ground corresponds to the documentary record.

The investigation is created by bringing these elements together.

The Role of Digital Transparency

The digital age has changed the relationship between citizens and public institutions.

A government website can potentially make thousands of documents accessible to citizens without requiring them to visit an administrative office.

Tunisia's access-to-information law provides for public bodies to publish and regularly update certain categories of information on their websites. It also requires information concerning access procedures and the officials responsible for handling access requests to be made available.

But digital publication alone is not enough.

Information must also be understandable, searchable, sufficiently detailed and usable.

A PDF containing hundreds of pages may technically be public, but a researcher may still face considerable difficulty extracting the information necessary for a specific investigation.

Open government is therefore not simply about putting documents online.

It is also about making information usable.

What Happens When Information Is Refused?

The law recognizes that access to information is not unlimited.

Certain exceptions exist, including situations involving national security and defence, international relations, privacy, personal data and intellectual property rights.

These exceptions are legitimate areas requiring careful consideration.

But they also make an important distinction necessary.

A refusal should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of corruption.

Likewise, the existence of a restriction should not automatically mean that the entire subject is inaccessible.

For journalists, the task is to determine precisely what information is restricted, why it is restricted and whether other non-restricted information can still be obtained.

This is why knowledge of access-to-information procedures is increasingly part of professional investigative journalism.

From Request to Investigation

An effective investigation can begin with a simple sequence.

First, identify a public-interest question.

Second, identify the institution responsible.

Third, determine what information should already be publicly available.

Fourth, submit precise requests for missing information.

Fifth, document the response.

Sixth, compare official information with other documentary sources.

Seventh, conduct interviews.

Eighth, visit the field where appropriate.

Finally, give the relevant institutions and individuals an opportunity to respond before publication.

This methodology protects both the journalist and the public.

It reduces dependence on anonymous claims.

It creates a documentary trail.

And it makes the final story stronger.

Why Access to Information Matters for Regional Journalism

The issue becomes particularly important outside the capital.

Regional journalism often has fewer resources than national media.

Yet citizens in interior regions also need information about public investment, infrastructure, health, education, transport, agriculture, water and employment.

A local road project may appear to be a small story from the perspective of national politics.

For the community concerned, it may be one of the most important public investments in its daily life.

The same applies to a health centre, school, water network, agricultural project or local economic programme.

Regional journalism can therefore turn administrative documents into stories that directly concern citizens.

The Unanswered Question

So, who owns the information in Tunisia?

Legally, the answer is not that information about public affairs belongs exclusively to the administration.

The 2016 access-to-information law establishes a right for persons to obtain information and explicitly links that right to transparency, accountability, public participation and research.

But the practical question remains more complex:

Can citizens and journalists obtain the information they need in a form that allows them to understand, verify and investigate public affairs effectively?

That is the question that deserves deeper field investigation.

The next stage is not another general discussion about transparency.

It is to test the system.

Select real public projects.

Identify the documents that should exist.

Submit documented requests.

Record the responses.

Measure delays and gaps.

Compare official records with what exists on the ground.

Interview citizens, journalists, researchers and public officials.

And publish the results.

Conclusion: Information Is the Beginning of Accountability

Public accountability cannot function effectively without information.

A citizen cannot meaningfully evaluate a public project without knowing what was promised.

A journalist cannot properly investigate public expenditure without access to documentary evidence.

A researcher cannot study development policy without reliable data.

And public institutions themselves benefit from clear and accessible information because transparency can strengthen public confidence and improve the quality of public debate.

Tunisia already possesses an important legal foundation for access to information.

The challenge for the coming years is to transform the principle into everyday practice.

For journalists, this means developing a stronger culture of document-based reporting.

For citizens, it means understanding that requesting information is part of civic participation.

For public institutions, it means treating accessible public information not as a favour granted to the public, but as an essential component of transparent administration.

And for investigative journalism, the lesson is simple:

Do not begin by asking who is guilty. Begin by asking what the documents say.

That is where serious journalism begins.

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By Barhoumi Mohamed Chaeib
Journalist & Researcher – Tunisia
ATEP MED – Arabic Digital Center for Media and Development