The Ministry of Information has announced that it will launch an online platform for right to information applications to expedite the access to information process.
At the Right to Information Stakeholders’ Conference, which was held on Monday at the RTI Commission's premises in Accra, Dr. Winifred Nafisa Mahama, who is in charge of the Access to Information Directorate at the Information Services Department, made this statement.
“There are technological processes in place to move application processes online because we are all moving to a digitized system. Hopefully, it will be launched by the end of the year, and individuals will be able to apply on the ghana.gov platform, she stated during a panel discussion on the topic "Implementation of RTI Act 2019 (Act 989): Problems, Solutions, and a Plan for the Future."
She claims that the numerous obstacles to information request will be addressed by the online platform.
Her remarks are in response to recent complaints regarding the absence of information officers at some public institutions and the heckling of applicants by public officials.
These incidents, according to Dr. Winifred Nafisa Mahama, annoy people looking for information and make it tedious to implement the law.
Mr. Yaw Sarpong Boateng, the Executive Secretary of the RTI Commission, highlighted some constraints that the Commission was facing prior to Dr. Nafisa making this disclosure, the most important of which was inadequate funding.
The report A group of people who were at the Right to Information Stakeholders' Conference on Monday. In addition to the fact that public institutions have a negative attitude toward RTI requests and that there are no offices outside of Accra, Mr. Yaw Sarpong Boateng said that the commission has financial problems.
The commission faces numerous difficulties, but funding is the most pressing one. Just like other public institutions, our budget for this year has been drastically reduced. The Commission needs money to keep an eye on and evaluate all of the country's public institutions' implementation processes.
According to Mr. Boateng, it would be difficult to ensure that institutions adhere to the RTI law without adequate funds.
The commission's inability to establish a tribunal unit to publicly adjudicate matters before it is a result of this lack of resources.
Mr. Yaw Sarpong noted that the commission has begun a sensitization program to educate the public and the media about the law's content despite the initial obstacles.
Dr. Nafisa also said that the Ministry of Information had given the head of Local Government Services, the Office of the Civil Service, and the State Interest in Governance Institution the responsibility of reminding public entities of their responsibilities and the deadlines for RTI requests. This was done to make sure that the RTI application process went smoothly.
She also made it clear that public institutions were being evaluated based on how well they implemented the Right to Information Act. She stated, "This will urge them to do the necessary."
Mr. Yaw Sarpong, on the other hand, claims that the public's rejection of the law is the "biggest challenge" to the law's implementation.
Dr. David Oppong Kusi, a board member of the RTI Commission, stated that the public must make good use of the RTI law because public institutions pose the majority of the challenges.
We need the public's support for this law. The law wasn't just written for lawyers. It was designed for everyone. In point of fact, the purpose of the law is to ensure that government matters and information are released to the general public, including my 91-year-old mother in the village,” he stated.
The Commission stated that it is collaborating with the Akropong School for the Blind to produce a braille version of the RTI law in order to address the concerns of people who live with disabilities in response to questions from the conference audience.
The Media Foundation for West Africa was commended by the Commission for its projects that made active use of the law: The Fourth Estate and Ghana Fact Check
For refusing to grant The Fourth Estate's request, the RTI commission writes to the Council of State.
