International Day for Universal Access to Information Launched

SOURCE: Richard Buabeng

The Ministry of Information in solidarity with UNESCO has launched International day for Access to Information ( IDUAI) today, 5TH June 2024.

Speaking at the Minister’s Press briefing today, the Minister for Information, Fatimatu Abubakar said UNESCO has selected Ghana to host the 2024 Global Conference on the International day of Universal Access to Information.

According to her, the prestigious event will take place in Accra on October 1st and 2nd of 2024 under the theme “Mainstreaming access to information and participation across the Public sector”.

“This significant recognition serves as a testament to our progress in promoting Right to Information in Ghana.

Briefing the press on the history of Ghana’s RTI law, the Minister indicated that Ghana has a unique history regarding Right to Information, although the 1992 Constitution provides for people’s rights to access information held by Public institutions, there was no act of Parliament to establish procedures for it’s implementation. Seven years after the 1992 Constitution came into force the institute of economic affairs (lEA) prepared the first draft of a right to information bill to promote access to information in Ghana.

However, the passage of the bill into law was delayed through different political administrations, this lengthy weight was characterised by vigorous advocacy from Civil society leading to the establishment of the Coalition on the right to Information Ghana also known as the RTI Coalition of 2003.

Over the cause of a decade, Parliament worked on four separate drafts of the RTI bill and finally passed into law on 26th March 2019.

The President assented to the bill on 21st May 2019. Unfortunately the implementation could not begin immediately due to a provision in section 86 of the Act stating “This act shall come into force at the commencement of the next financial year”. This provision was necessary to ensure the required infrastructure and personnel were in place before implementation of the Act and it’s finally begun in 2020.

Fatimatu Abubakar said, since the inception of RTI law, remarkable progress has been achieved which includes the establishment of access to information division (ATID) within the information services department which coordinates the establishment of information unit in public institutions and the recruitment, training and posting of RTI officers to the information unit. ATID has since posted 350 RTI officers to public institutions nationwide.

Furthermore, the RTI commission has been set up and equipped with the necessary resources, logistics and staff to operate effectively.

Additionally, ATID has supervised RTI officers as they undertake a certified online course on access to information and it’s implementation.

“ATID has conducted extensive research on the implementation of the RTI law in Ghana which has provided valuable insight and data enabling us to continuously refine and improve approach to ensure universal access to information”.

She urged all Stakeholders to make the 2024 Global Conference of the international day for Universal Access to Information a landmark event that will inspire and propel Ghana towards greater transparency and empowerment.