Minister advises public to be conversant with RTI law

The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has challenged Ghanaians to read the Right to Information law extensively and scrutinise it effectively to promote democracy.

According to the Minister, the law which is not limited to only the media has to be well understood by the citizens so that they would know what it entails to further know what to access and what not to.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah was addressing students and stakeholders in Accra on the topic media freedom, the role of the RTI law in deepening media freedom.

It was jointly organised by Chevening Alumni Association, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

He said the RTI law would not only help promote the watchdog role of journalists and ordinary citizens of this country but also help break the bureaucratic barriers to information on development processes.

“Our democracy is currently under threat because the public relies on lies, conjecture, fabrications and leaks especially on social media platforms. The RTI being passed should curtail these obstructions and speculations” he said.

The Information Minister said stakeholders including the government, citizens, the media, civil society organisations and the academia all have key responsibilities in ensuring the RTI achieved the desired purpose.

The GJA president, Mr Affail Monney on his part said the media should familiarise themselves with the law so they could speak to it.

He asked stakeholders to pay attention to the legislation that would operationalise the implementation of the RTI Act beginning 2020.

He said there was the need to ensure that the legislation that would be introduced do not hamper smooth access to information in the country.

Mr Monney noted that there was the need to keep an eye on the implementation of the Act to ensure that the right things are done by authorities in charge of its implementation.

“We need to ensure that the people with the right competencies are recruited to manage the information and also release the information,” he said.

“People who are recruited should not be people who will serve the political interest of their parties,” he added.

BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY