The Right to Information Commission as part of its 2022 RTI week celebration hosted its stakeholders at the office of the Commission situated at No.4 Osu Badu Link, Airport West Residential in Accra.
The purpose of hosting the stakeholders was to engage them on the “Implementation of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), the Challenges so far since the passage of the Right to Information law in 2019, Solutions to the challenges, Achievements of the Commission since the operationalisation of the RTI law, and the Way Forward.”
The chairman of the Commission, Justice K. A. Ofori-Atta in his welcoming address expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their numerous support in making sure the RTI law is being implemented smoothly and assured stakeholders to as well use the forum to spilt out whatever challenges they have encountered as part of exercising their right of access to information as well as some success stories worthy of sharing about the implementation of the RTI law.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., on behalf of the Commission spelt out some of the achievements the Commission has chalked so far such as being able to sensitise most of the regions in Ghana on a zonal basis, the Commission embarking on institutional sensitisations, educating the public through radio and TV programmes, stakeholders engagements, RTI week celebration to create awareness among others. Mr Boateng reiterated that the challenges of the Commission are numerous but the most paramount is funding. He said funding had been a constraint on the implementation processes.
As part of Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, the Executive Secretary indicated that the Commission has published Guidelines for the preparation of the Information Manual and has distributed them to various institutions.
He emphasised that to deepen the implementation of Act 989, the Commission is working fervently to put before Parliament a draft Legislative Instrument (L.I) for the further operationalisation of Act 989 among others.
Speaking about the applications received by the Commission in 2021, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., said the Commission received 31 applications for review from institutions and individuals. Out of the 31, the Commission has made 20 determinations, 7 he said have been settled and the applicants have withdrawn 4.
Going forward, the Executive Secretary said the Commission will intensify its publicity, and work towards the passing of its L. I among others.
There was a panel discussion to discuss the implementation of the RTI law and its related matters which featured the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., Mr David Oppon-Kusi, Board Member of the Commission, Dr Nafisa Mahama (Access to Information Division), Patricia Adusei Poku (Data Protection Agency), Gloria Afia Ahiadze (Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association) and Abigail Larbi (Media Foundation for West Africa).
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
