Despite the passage of the Right to Information Law in Ghana, administrative and bureaucratic bottlenecks coupled with the imposition of fees by public institutions and a seeming lack of awareness among the citizenry of the law and their rights to demand for information are among a host of challenges impeding access to public information and the effective implementation of the law.
STAR Ghana Foundation (SGF), in partnership with Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) and Ghana Friends (GV) is convening a forum with civil society organizations and other stakeholders on the implementation of the Right to Information Law in Ghana since its passage. The convening seeks to strengthen civil society awareness of the implementation of the RTI Law, reflect on the challenges associated with it and support their mobilization to influence its effective implementation to promote access to public information for public use in holding public officials to account.
The forum will feature the presentation of a discussion paper on “Assessing Access to Information in the Context of the RTI Law Implementation” commissioned by the partners. This will be followed by an expert panel discussion. The discussants include the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah; Executive Secretary to the RTI Commission, Mr. Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq; Programmes Manager of Commonwealth Human Rights and RTI Coalition Secretariat, Esther Poku-Aduhene; and President of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr. Roland Affail Monney.
The forum is scheduled for Wednesday July 6, 2022, at the Tomreik Hotel, East Legon, Accra. It is expected that the forum will generate actionable recommendations to strengthen the implementation of the RTI law for informed civic engagements with the state. This national level forum will be followed by a regional convening in Tamale to provide a similar platform for actors and stakeholders in the northern zone of the country.
In addition to in-person participants, the event will be streamed live on STAR Ghana Foundation’s Facebook page and be opened to virtual participation via zoom.