The Right to Information Commission and Access to Information Division at the Ministry of Information was hosted by Lands Commission for its Two (2) Day Induction and Orientation workshop of Designated Right to Information Officers for their various Regional Offices across the country.
The workshop which was held on 16th and 17th November 2022 was to induct and train officers of the Lands Commission who have been designated to be Information Officers to equip them with the technical know-how on how to effectively implement the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) in the regional offices of the Lands Commission.
The Head of Access to Information Division at the Ministry of Information, Dr Nafisa Mahama commended the Lands Commission for being the first institution to make sure all their offices have well-stocked information units, headed by Designated Information Officers as stipulated in Act 989.
She called on other public institutions to imitate such initiatives as part of ensuring compliance with the law since the Right to Information Commission wouldn’t compromise on its sanctions when any public institution fails to comply with any Section of the law.
The Executive Secretary of the Right to Information Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., inducted the Designated Information Officers by leading them to administer the official oath of office. He encouraged the Designated Officers to execute their mandate as stipulated in the law since they may have liabilities to bear should they go contrary to what Act 989 says.
Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., indicated that “the Right to Information has become a worthy tool to advance democratic, governance, improve participatory development, and the efficient provision of socio-economic services.
The process of making informed judgment has a significant and pervasive impact on the society in which we currently live, and this goes a long way to impact on total productivity.”
He further implored the Lands Commission to proactively disclose information to the public through their social media handles & website since that will eventually limit the number of applications they may receive.
George Frimpong Basoah, Principal Officer, ATI Division at the Ministry of Information took participants through the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
Surv. Naa Seidu Zakari Abu who represented the Executive Secretary of Lands Commission, Surv. James Dadson thanked the RTI Commission and the ATI Division for not turning down the invitation of the Lands Commission and that, the Lands Commission will make sure that they contribute their quota for the smooth implementation of the RTI law in Ghana.
The Head of the Human Resource Unit of the Lands Commission, Mr Evans Mamphey, some staff of the Lands Commission Head Office and some of the Lands Commission staff in the Ashanti Region graced the two (2) day induction and orientation workshop held in the conference room of the Ashanti Regional Office of the Lands Commission, Kumasi.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
