Minister for Information, madam Fatimatu Abubakar has commended the Right to Information Commission on the increase in requests for information under the Right to Information (RTI) law.
The minister’s praise comes on the back of the increase in the request for information from the commission between 2022 and 2023.
Madam Fatima indicated that the notable increase in requests for information from 785 in 2022 to 1,749 in 2023 is a reflection of a growing culture of accountability and citizen engagement.
Paying a courtesy call on the Minister on Wednesday, June 26, the Executive Secretary to the Commission, Mr. Yaw Sarpong revealed that there has been a decline in the number of annual reports submitted by public institutions to the Commission emphasizing that the Commission is concerned about compliance and would therefore create a template on its website to ease the filing of reports by public institutions to improve the numbers.
Mr. Sarpong added that the Commission has designed programmes to increase regional patronage as well as awareness creation.
The delegation led by the Chairperson of the Commission, Justice Rtd K.A. Ofori Atta used the opportunity to assure the Minister of its commitment to continue to collaborate with the Ministry to carry out its mandate.
The Right to Information Act, 2019 (ACT 989) was passed by Parliament of Ghana in 2019 and assented to by the President the same year giving the constitutional right to individuals and organizations to access to information held by public institutions.
