As part of measures to ensure access to information is not hindered, the Right to Information Commission (RTI) has said it will soon prosecute heads of institutions and agencies that fail to provide information requested under the RTI Law, Act 989.
According to Executive Secretary of the Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., the major challenge on the accessing information front has been the lackadaisical attitude on the side of some institutions toward information requests made.
This attitude, he says, will be addressed through prosecution of some heads of institutions and information officers.
“On the accessing information front, the major challenge is the attitude with which institutions tend to address request applications – which is nothing to write home about. We see this trend in the reviews 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 wait for the days to elapse, and when applicants put in a review for internal review they still do not attend to the request and allow the matter reach the Commission for a review,” he said during a stakeholder conference in Accra, held to solicit inputs on the theme ‘Implementation of RTI Act 2019 (Act 989): Challenges, Solutions, Achievements and the Way forward’.
Mr. Sarpong added that some public institutions respond to applications either with hostility or misinterpretation. Thus, he said, going forward the Commission is going to curb the situation with prosecutions; hence urging information officers and heads of institutions to sit up and be responsible to the people or they will have only themselves to blame for the consequences.
During the conference, the Executive Secretary mentioned that the Commission has successfully negotiated with the Attorney-General’s Department to grant the RTI Commission prosecutorial powers to prosecute offences which come before it.
A three-day prosecution training was organised for 26 selected staff of the Commission by the Attorney-General’s Department. The Commission is also finalising the setting-up of a tribunal to adjudicate matters before it, and is therefore calling for support to fully furnish it for work to commence.
To further deepen implementation of Act 989, Mr. Boateng noted that the Commission is currently engaging the Ministry of Information on a draft legislative instrument to enhance operationalisation of the Act.
About the Act
The RTI Act (Act 989) is a law that seeks to promote transparency and accountability by empowering citizens to access information on central and local governments, as well as non-governmental organisations which are publicly funded.
