Need for extensive training on RTI – Minister of Information

General News on Friday, May 31, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-05-31

It is necessary that citizens are fully informed about the Right to Information Act (RTI) before it is fully implemented.

Indeed, this understanding is essential to the successful implementation of the RTI.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, said this Thursday in Accra, at a stakeholder workshop day on the implementation of the ITRs.

He said that, given the fact that "we have tried to do this many times, it is important for us to define the right context for what will follow."

The minister pointed out, for example, that many felt that the law on access to information was a law giving citizens the right to information, but that this right was already enshrined in the constitution. of 1992.

The Minister of Information stated that the RTI, once fully implemented, would allow people to exercise this right.

He said that currently, the most difficult part of the job was getting everyone to understand RTI as well as possible.

"For us, at the Ministry of Information, the law is the result of the collaboration that got it, promulgated and ready to be applied," Nkrumah said.

The Minister stated that it is now important, through this same collaboration, to ensure the effective implementation of the RTI.

He said that as of January 2, 2020, the ITRs Act would be operational and that it would require a lot of work now.

The Minister encouraged stakeholders to do their best for effective implementation of the RTI, stating: "We ask you to present your ideas for a very good implementation",

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, on May 21, approved the law on the right to information, which was pbaded by Parliament in March this year 2019.

While the right to information is enshrined in Ghana's 1992 Constitution, the country has struggled to enact the Right to Information Act since 1999.

President Akuffo-Addo said that once properly implemented, this act could prove to be an essential tool in the fight against corruption.