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The government is developing a standardized fee system for all public institutions to charge people seeking access to information under the Right to Information Act (RTI), the Information Minister said, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
He said the lack of a unified royalty system was one of the challenges facing the implementation of the RTI law, which is why the government was working on a proposal that would soon be submitted to parliament for consideration.
“I am aware of a request for review which was caused by a disagreement over fees and charges. A proposal on fees and charges has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and will soon be presented to Parliament, ”he said.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah announced this during Ghana’s commemoration of the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) in Accra yesterday.
Universal Access to Information Day
The event was organized by the RTI Commission, the statutory body mandated to protect the right to information, as enshrined in Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution and operationalized by law RTI of 2019 (law 989).
September 28 was instituted as IUDA by the United Nations General Assembly (UN) in 2019 to raise awareness of the importance of access to information.
The Ghana commemoration was themed: “Right to Information Act, 2019 (Law 989): a tool to ensure transparency, good governance and sustainable development by leveraging international cooperation”.
Fee controversy
Law 989, passed in 2019 and entered into force in 2020, helps citizens access information from public institutions.
Currently, there is no standardized fee system, which means that public institutions use their discretion to set their fees. This can however be examined by the RTI Commission.
In July of this year, the Minerals Commission billed the Fourth Estate, an online news portal, GH ¢ 6,000 as an access to information fee.
The Fourth Estate had asked the mining regulator for a list of companies authorized to undertake mining activities in the country between January 2013 and May 2021, and companies whose licenses were revoked or suspended during this same period and the reasons for them. accompany.
Following a request from the Fourth Estate, the RTI Commission waived the charges and ordered the Minerals Commission to bill the GH ¢ 2 information portal.
“The Commission orders the Director General of the Minerals Commission, Mr. Martin K. Ayisi, to ensure the application of a charge or fee of 1.80 GH ¢ multiplied by the number of pages of information to be printed or GH ¢ 1.90 if the full information is to be emailed to the requester in PDF format, ”the commission said.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the Minerals Commission dragged the RTI Commission to the High Court in Accra to seek an order quashing the decision.
Another controversy regarding the fees was the case of Democratic National Congress (NDC) deputy for Ashaiman, Mr. Ernest Norgbey, who sued the Election Commission (EC) in July last year over the EC’s refusal to give him access to information on certain purchases in connection with the voter biometric management system (BVMS).
The EC argued that since it recognized the MP’s right to information under the Constitution and Law 989, it could not honor the said request because Parliament had not yet set the fees for the EC. ‘you had to pay to request information under Law 989.
The Accra High Court, chaired by Judge Gifty Agyei Addo, confirmed the MP’s case and ordered the EC to release the information to him at a cost of GH ¢ 1,500.
Implementation of the RTI law
Besides the decision to obtain a standardized tariff, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also indicated that his structure had put in place many programs for the effective implementation of the RTI law.
He said that currently the Ministry of Information has trained 1,055 officers to help public institutions fulfill their mandate of providing information to the public under the RTI Act.
“These officers include 478 appointed information officers, 478 registration officers and 99 newly recruited information officers,” he said.
He said the adoption of the RTI law, coupled with training and other efforts, was among the important measures taken by the government to “promote accountability, transparency and good governance”.
Show interest
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr. Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, advised citizens to take a close interest in the RTI law to enable them to exercise their constitutional right to information.
According to him, RTI was a right granted to everyone, and that its use would help people solve a myriad of problems.
“Your child is qualified, but was not admitted to a public high school because the authorities say he obtained a certain score. How true is this record? Under the RTI law, you can ask the GES to produce the exam scores, ”he explained.
Access to information
The Executive Secretary of the RTI Commission, Mr. Yaw Sarpong Boateng, said that the RTI is a cardinal principle of democracy, transparency and accountability.
He said the world is now embracing access to information, with governments making access to information the norm, as opposed to secrecy.
The commission, he said, was ready to help people exercise their right to information.
He said that so far the commission had, since its formation in October last year, received 16 complaints and determined nine.
“The commission opened its offices on Monday September 27 and processes are underway to obtain financial authorization and recruit the required staff,” he said.
Background
The RTI law was passed in 2019 to operationalize Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that “everyone has the right to information, subject to the qualifications and laws necessary in a democratic society ”.
The law gives people the right to access all kinds of information except exempt information.
In accordance with the law, exempt information includes information about the president or vice-president, information relating to the Cabinet, law enforcement and public safety, international relations, the economy or any other matter. other interest.
Other exempt information includes the internal workings of public institutions, inside information and personal information.
In accordance with the RTI Act, the RTI Commission has the mandate to promote, monitor, protect and enforce the right to information granted to individuals under Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution.
People to whom access to information is denied or who are dissatisfied with the access to information process can file complaints with the commission, which has the power to make a decision on complaints.
The law also states that any party aggrieved by the commission’s decision has the right to file a claim for redress with the High Court.
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