The United Kingdom (UK) has commended Ghana for the establishment and steady progress of the Right To Information Commission (RTIC).
It said the functioning of the RTIC had become significant because information remained the lifeblood of democracy and efforts aimed at ensuring its free and unimpeded access to the citizens must be encouraged to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance.
The UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Christian Rogg, asserted at a Breakfast meeting organised by the RTIC for the diplomatic community, donor partners and stakeholders in the country as part of its end-of-year activities.
The Breakfast meeting, held at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Ghana, brought together representatives of key stakeholders, including the Canadian High Commission, Star Ghana Foundation, Centre for Law and Democracy-Canada, the German Society for International Development (GIZ), the Norwegian Embassy, the Ghana Development Community Association (GDCA), UNESCO and the French Embassy.
The ceremony was also used to launch two booklets of the commission: the Implementation Assessment of the Ghana Right To Information Act 2019, Act 989, Summary Report 2025 and the Medium-term Development Plan (MTDP) 2026-2029.
The UK High Commissioner said it was a different thing to establish a commission and another thing to keenly ensure its efficient functioning and thus commended the commission for the efforts put in within the five years of its establishment, to implement its mandate.
Dr Rogg said the UK and Ghana had shared interests in the promotion of democratic governance, and the high commission was proud to be associated with the activities of the commission and Ghana in the common quest for the enhancement of democratic governance.
Visibility
The Chairman of the Board of the RTIC, Dr James Kwaku Asante, commended the management and staff of the commission for their ‘hard work under trying circumstances’ in the face of the teething challenges of the commission.
He said information remained the nerve centre of inclusive and sustainable democracy and stressed that the board under his leadership would work to enhance and uplift the visibility of the commission to let the people of Ghana and the world at large know what the commission did to solicit public understanding and cooperation.
The Executive Secretary of the RTIC, Genevieve Shirley Lartey, disclosed that in its relatively short life, the RTIC had made modest gains, leading to a growing public demand for information, a substantial increase in the RTI space and the drafting of a Legislative Instrument for the smooth and effective implementation of its mandate.
Ms Lartey commended the diplomatic community, civil and non-governmental organisations (NGO) and all other stakeholders for their support and partnership.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
