Parliament passed the Right to Information Bill on May 21, 2019. A gazette notification was issued on May 24, 2019, which introduced the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) to Ghanaians. The RTI ACT 989 promotes transparency and accountability by empowering people to access information from the central and local government authorities as well as non-governmental organizations, which are publicly funded.
Desk Officers have therefore been stationed at the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to help with sensitization within their MDAs and the environments in which they live.
The Desk Officer at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC), Miss Martha Kakra Donkor on Wednesday, 10th September 2024 organized sensitization for the Youth Department at the Central Assemblies of God church, Tema, at Community 4.
The Information Officer took members of the Youth Department of the church through the rudiments of the law. She elaborated on the background of the RTI Act and introduced them to the Right to Information Act.
Martha Kakra Donkor enlightened participants on accessing information from government and private institutions funded by the government. She elaborated on how the application is processed and information that is exempted or denied in the RTI Act. She added that information that is not exempted but denied could go through internal review, first to the head of the institutions, then to the RTI commission, and then finally to the Law Court.
In conclusion, she stated that each law is only as good as the extent to which people use it, therefore it is important to raise citizens’ awareness of their right to access information. She urged members of the Youth Department to make use of the RTI.
Participants took turns to ask questions and made suggestions.
