Minister for Information Honorable Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has urged the general public to desist from the institutional culture of secrecy and privacy.
Speaking earlier this morning at a public forum on implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act 2019-2023, Dr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah mentioned that the general public including state institutions should desist from providing information on a need to know basis but to disseminate it with the procedures provided.
He added that the RTI act is relevant in providing legal background for individuals to exercise their right in accessing information.
“The RTI law is vital in providing legal background for individuals, journalists, students, etc., to exercise their right to access information. However, the challenge of the ignorance of the law, and sometimes in particular, the deliberate refusal by public agencies to provide information because they feel it might embarrass them, is leading to difficulties in implementation at some point. And it’s because in many places, people still want to treat information on a need -to -know basis.”
“We would like to serve notice, and notice is hereby served, that under Act 989, and in accordance with Article 211F, information is no longer a matter that people must get access to on a need -to -know basis. It is a right, and a procedure has been provided. Make it available.”
He further stated that for the implementation of the RTI act to be completed, three factors should be attended to, thus he mentioned the supply aspect, human aspect and lastly the regulatory part aiding in putting these actions on course.
“In Ghana, three organs have to work together to make it happen. One, supply side organs, which consist of the information offices or the designated information offices within the public. Two, the demand side organ, general public or the persons who request for information, knowing how to go about it.”
“And three, the regulatory side organ, that is the right to information. The interrelation between the organs created by the sector ministry, the Ministry of Information, no single organ and on its own, may RBI work effectively.”
