Oppong Nkrumah commissions secretariat to operationalize RTI Act

The Information Ministry has commissioned the Right to Information (RTI) Secretariat, as part of structures to fully operationalize the RTI Act.

The secretariat, which was commissioned on Friday, has been equipped to also hold virtual meetings amid the deadly pandemic.

As part of its functions, the secretariat will support the various government agencies to effectively process and respond to RTI requests.

A divisional head is expected to be appointed soon to manage the daily administrative activities of the secretariat.

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who cut the tape for the official opening of the secretariat, implored the Information Services Department who would be working at the office to be professional in their dealings.

“You are to provide the information as it is required and not hide it. You should be dedicated to the tenets of the law to ensure that the rights given to citizens by the constitution is upheld,” Oppong Nkrumah urged.

The sector minister also mentioned that the first batch of assistant RTI officers had been recruited to support the designated RTI officers at the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to process requests made.

Parliament passed the RTI Bill on March 26, last year, and the President subsequently assented it into law on May 21, 2019.

The Act provides for the implementation of the constitutional right to information held by any public institution and to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs.

The law is a critical tool in the fight against corruption in the country.

The Chief Director at the Information Ministry, Mamle Andrews, in her welcome address, said the secretariat would help in monitoring and coordinating the implementation of the activities of the RTI law across the public sector.

The effective rollout of the law, she said, would help the government in policy formulation and decision-making.

Government tasked the Information Ministry to assist in putting up the requisite infrastructure towards the full operationalisation of the Act within a year of its passage.

The Information Minister and his deputy, Pius Enam Hadzide, and members of the RTI Implementation committee toured the facility.