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Tag: RTI Law

  • Implementation of RTI law: Commission seeks power to prosecute offenders

    The Right to Information (RTI) Commission says it will soon prosecute heads of public institutions who fail to give out information requested under the RTI law.

    Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr Yaw Sarpong Boateng, said the commission had successfully negotiated with the Attorney General’s department to grant it powers to prosecute offences under the Act.

    “The Attorney General has further elected to train selected staff of the Commission as prosecutors to seamlessly prosecute offences under the Act,” he said.

    Mr Boateng made this known at a stakeholders’ conference held in Accra, on Monday in a conference that sought to solicit inputs from relevant stakeholders on the implementation of the RTI law and the way forward.

    It was held on the theme: “Implementation of RTI Act 2019 (Act 989): Challenges, Solutions, Achievements and the Way Forward.”

    The RTI Act (Act 989) is a law that seeks to promote transparency and accountability by empowering the citizens to access information on central and local governments as well as non-governmental organizations, which are publicly funded.

    The Act was passed by Parliament in March 2019 and assented to by the President in May 2019.

    However, more than a year into its implementation, accessing information under the law remains a major challenge.

    Mr Boateng said the reluctance of heads of many public institutions to grant requests for information was negatively impacting on the smooth implementation of the Act.

    For instance, he noted that, out of 157 requests for information applications received by public institutions, 130 were approved while 10 were rejected, adding that one internal review was granted, three internal reviews were also rejected by the institution, while one of the review applications ended up in court.

    “We see this trend in the review that have come to us. Institutions seem not to be mindful of the 14 days at their disposal to respond to a request application, they still wait for days to elapse. When applicants put in a request for internal review they still do not attend to the request and allow the matter to get to the Commission,” he bemoaned.

    He added that others responded to these applications either with hostilities or misinterpretations, saying “this is an issue going forward we are going to curb with prosecutions.”

    He also disclosed that the Commission was finalizing the setting up of a tribunal to adjudicate matters before it and therefore appealed for funds to furnish its tribunal unit to enable it to hold its first public hearing on matters that were before it.

    To deepen the implementation of the Act, Mr Boateng said, the Commission was currently engaging the Ministry of Information on a draft legislative instrument to enhance the operationalisation of the Act.

    “In fact, there is a committee that is currently considering the draft of proposed regulations which should be ready for submission to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice soon,” he said.

    Mrs Abigail Larbi Odei, Programme Manager for Media Foundation for West Africa, urged the RTI Commission to address the bureaucratic system and the charging of arbitrary fees associated with the request processes.

    Source: GNA

  • Make use of RTI; Oppong Nkrumah tells academia and media

    Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has charged academia as well as media practitioners to utilize the RTI law, Act 989, to obtain reliable information from state institutions for their work. 

    Answering questions in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Nkrumah said the law which imposes an obligation on public institutions to provide information to applicants is being underutilised.

    “Mr Speaker, may I take advantage of the opportunity given me to reach out to the whole country, particularly the academic community. A lot of our young people have complained about difficulties in getting access to information when they are preparing their dissertations and so on because a lot of institutions operate as though they are doing you a favor. 

    “The RTI Act gives you legal cover to apply for information from public institutions for academic purposes.. Also to our colleagues in the media, we want to encourage a lot more use of the Act and a lot less resort to speculation and hearsay. The RTI Act grants you to by law access to information for purposes of media work,” he added. 

    The Minister was providing updates on the progress of the implementation of the law since its inception in 2020 on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

    The law he said allows both media practitioners and persons in academia to get access to credible information with which they can use in dissertations and media works.

    He said the law since its introduction has made remarkable progress noting that from the time the implementation of the law commenced to date, a total of two hundred and twenty-three (223) RTI requests have been received so far by public institutions.

    This he indicated that per interim figures collated from the various RTI offices of state institutions in 2021 alone, a total of one hundred and twenty-nine (129) requests for information were submitted by individuals and institutions and were received by 47 institutions. Out of this number, 87 were received from individuals while 42 were received from institutions.

    In 2022, a total of ten (10) requests for information were submitted by individuals and institutions and received by seven (7) public institutions as at the end of January 2022. Out of the ten (10) applications received, 5 (50%) were received from individuals while 5 (50%) were received from institutions.

    Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

  • We must be vigilant to protect the RTI Law DW Akademie programme Director

    Susanne Fuchs-Mwakideu, the Programme Director of DW Akademie Ghana has urged the media not to relent but make it a point to protect the Right to Information Law (RTI) which has been passed into law by parliament.

    Speaking at a media forum on the RTI, investigative journalism and the fight against corruption in Accra, Ms Fuchs-Mwakideu said the right to information is important to everyone and not only journalists.

    She said there is a need for Journalists to be vigilant and go the extra mile to protect the law since it allows them to seek the right information.

    “We all must be vigilant and protect the RTI law, it is for everyone and we all must take advantage of it to get the right information to help develop the country,” she said.

    Meanwhile, research conducted by the Media Foundation for West Africa showed that only a few journalists are taking advantage of the RTI law being passed.

    It said most journalists are not seeking information through the RTI, which it said explains why many cases which are subject to investigations are still hanging

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com.

  • Applicants to pay for cost of translated information under RTI

    Chairperson of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, says applicants who may request for information in translated language of their choice when the Right to Information (RTI) Law comes on stream next year would pay for it.

    Ben Abdallah Banda said, for instance, if someone demanded that information requested from RTI information officer should be translated into French or Twi, the applicant would bear the cost of translation.

    Read: Train judges on RTI law Nigerian lawyer to Ghanaians

    Mr Abdallah Banda, who is the Member of Parliament for Offinso South, told journalists during a training workshop for Chief Directors and Regional Coordinating Directors in Accra ahead of the operationalization of the RTI Law in January 2020.

    He said the RTI law required government to proactively provide strategic information to the public without necessarily waiting for someone to apply for it.

    However, he said there were certain information that was exempted from being given out to the public or classified and that exemption was grounded within the RTI law.

    Mr Banda said any law that authorised the release of information to the public that contradicted the RTI law, the RTI law will always reign supreme.

    Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, for his part, said 600 information units would be established across the country, while information officers would be appointed to manage them for the implementation of the Right to Information Act in January next year.

    The information officers would be trained on the RTI law and the Data Protection Law so that they would meet the demands of applicants who might request for information.

    The participants for the workshop were drawn from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country and taken through data mapping exercise, basic rudiments of the Data Protection Law and setting up of information units.

    The RTI law seeks to give effect to Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution which states that “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary for a democratic society”.

    Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the training would enable the participants to be abreast of the new law and support the government’s implementation drive.

    He stated that government would equip the information units with the requisite equipment in order for them to deliver on their mandates.

    He said the cost of the operationalisation of the law had been forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for validation to ensure timely release of funds to the various information units.

    Read: Without RTI law our democracy is incomplete CDD

    The Minister said a test run would be conducted in December this year, to assess the readiness of the various information units and personnel before the actual implementation in January 2020.

    Mr Felix Chaahaah, the Volta Regional Coordinating Director, who is also a participant at the workshop, in an interview with the media, said the training had been beneficial and believed it would enhance accountability and transparency of the public service.

    He expressed optimism that the manual records of the various ministries, departments and agencies would be digitised before January next year, so that information requested by the public could be released in its soft copy.

    He said frantic efforts were underway to equip the information units with computers and other facilities, in order to serve the public effectively.

     

    Source: Ghananewsagency.org