The Regional Ministers of Ashanti and Bono have hailed the establishment of the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) in the country and its branch offices in their respective regions as a further step in the enhancement of democracy in Ghana.
Mr Joseph Addae Akwaboah, the Bono Regional Minister and Dr Frank Amoakohene, the Ashanti Regional Minister, both shared the view that the free and unimpeded access to information by citizens were of critical importance to the rule of law and open governance.
The ministers made the remarks at separate meetings in their offices when the Executive Secretary of the Right to Information Commission, Ms Genevieve Shirley Lartey, paid courtesy calls on them as part of her tour of the commission’s offices in the two regions.
Dr Amoakohene said democratic governments served at the pleasure of the people and which meant that the people must be always involved and carried along by the sharing of information to ensure that they are part of the system.
He called on the commission to intensify its sensitisation to educate the public to make people aware of the critical nature and benefit of the mandate and purpose of its establishment.
On his part, Mr Akwaboah, the Bono Regional Minister, said irrespective of the vital importance of the commission to ensure accountability and transparency in governance, care must be taken not to abuse the mandate and turn the commission into an inquisitorial outfit.
Ms Lartey said she was in the two regions to find out how the commission’s staff and offices had been doing since she assumed office a year ago and also as part of her general monitoring and evaluation exercise.
The RTIC was established in 2019 under Act 989 passed by the Parliament of Ghana in 1989 with the mandate to promote, protect, monitor and enforce the right of access to information in Ghana.
FROM DANIEL DZRISAH, SUNYANI
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