EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION COMMISSION SPEAKS ON JOURNALISM AND THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION LAW
On 23rd February, 2023, the Executive Secretary of the Right to Information Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., attended a One Day Seminar organised by the Department of Communication Studies (University of Ghana), as the quest speaker on a topic: “Journalism and the Right to Information Act: The Journey so Far.”
Yaw Sarpong Boateng Esq., gave a brief background of the Right to Information(RTI) law and outlined some of the successes the Commission has achieved and the challenges it is facing in the implementation of the law.
He noted that even though the Commission’s resources are very limited, it has not detered it in it’s engagement with the general public as part of it’s promotional activities.
The Executive Secretary indicated that, in 2020, only 50 public institutions filed their reports. However, due to the mass education on the law by the Right to Information Commission, the institutions increased from 50 to 289 in 2021 and it is expected to further increase in 2022 after the deadline of the submission of annual reports. He further noted that the Commission has since January 2023 intensified its monitoring and enforcing efforts to make sure institutions comply with the law.
The Seminar was both virtual and in person and was well patronised.
Other Speakers were Mr. Kwaku Krobea Asante (Programmes Manager for Media Foundation for West Africa), Mr. Zakaria Tanko Musah (Lawyer and a Lecturer) and was moderated by Dr. Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey.