The Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus on Open Governance Partnership (OGP) and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho West, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, has urged the Right to Information Commission not to relent on its mandate in order to enhance the country’s democracy.
He stated that the smooth and unimpeded access to information by all citizens and organisations must be treated as a human right issue and given the right attention by all stakeholders, including the Right To Information Commission, which leads and champions the cause.
Mr Bedzrah made the statement when the caucus paid a fact-finding visit to the RTI offices in Dzorwulu in Accra yesterday to assess the operations and state of the Commission and share thoughts with it.
He urged the Commission to put in more effort, irrespective of any challenges it faced, to let the world know what it stood for and what it was doing to ensure transparency and accountability in the governance of the country by the government and all other institutions.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Ms Genevieve Shirley Lartey, disclosed that it had religiously carried out requirements of the National Action Plan (NAP-4) which was committed to rollout administrative and institutional arrangement for the implementation of Act 989.
This, she said, followed the passage of the Act in 2019, adding that the commitments under NAP-4 had been reprioritised under NAP-5 to include the development of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, building capacity of the Public on RTI Law and the passing of regulation for the Legislative Instrument.
Ms Lartey said the major challenge facing RTIC was funding and subsequent lack of accommodation, a situation that does not augur well for the smooth implementation of its plans and activities.
A member of the Governing Board of the Commission, Mr Chris Dougan, explained that arrangement was far advanced for members of the new Board to be apprised with what was contained in the draft LI before it would be re-submitted to Parliament for consideration.
In response to an issue on public awareness creation, Mr Kweku Sersah-Johnson, Technical Advisor RTIC, said the Commission had a Comprehensive Communication Strategy encompassing all aspects of information dissemination and education.
The purpose of the National Action Plan is to improve government transparency and accountability, strengthen public participation in governance and promote open data and anti-corruption efforts.
Members of the Parliamentary Caucus present at the visit to the Commission included Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah, Vice Chairman of the Caucus, Dominic Napare, Shaibu Mahama, Adelaide Ntim and Kaakyire Asira Gyasi, Assistant Secretary, OGP Caucus.
Others were Mr Kofi Sarpong, Ms Kate Swanzy, Mr Staphen Owusu, Mr Michael Duodo-Sakyiama, Miss Audrey Korlekuor Odjeawo and Mr Baffour Eugene all of the RTIC.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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