Accepting the Right to Information (RTI) law is posing a challenge to its implementation, says the Minister for Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
This he said was due to the culture that allows working in secret in the various organisations in the country.
Article 21(f) of the Act, gives substantial constitutional right that gives citizens access to official information held by governmental institutions, qualifications and conditions under which the access may be obtained.
Speaking at a forum on Wednesday 12th December, 2023, the Minister for Information attributed some of the challenges facing the implementation of the RTI law to thoughts by organisations that they may be embarrassed.
Further, the minister highlighted the delay of the Legislative Instrument as a contributory factor to the challenges faced with implementing the law. He said the legislative instrument is a crucial accessory to the law and stipulates the distinctions of the law and facilitates its implementation.
Without a legal instrument there is difficulty in the implementation of certain aspects of the law. Mr Oppong Nkrumah said “The absence of the LI has led to some challenges in some areas, as the ambiguities in some parts of the law regarding for example, the number of days in processing the initial information request, or even the period within which reviews by the Commission should respond to are matters that are yet to be sorted out.”
The Minister stated that lack of resources deprived the commission from rolling out all aspects of information units across all public organizations in the country.
The Minister says the challenges met from implementing the law constitutes primarily the need to work with the Access to Information Department (ATI) of the Information Services Department (ISD) to establish measures that will curb challenges using technology.
