Easy access to information crucial in deepening democracy and accountability

Citizens' ability to easily access information at all levels is crucial in reducing corruption, deepening democratic governance and ensuring transparency and accountability.Madam Mina Mensah, Head of the African Region of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), said the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Law, was a critical step towards encouraging citizens to actively seek answers to policies and issues that bothered on accountability and democratic governance.She said the growing acceptance and desire by the people to access information enabled individuals and the public to understand policies made by legislators and public administrators and hold them accountable.Madam Mensah was speaking at a two-day capacity-building workshop on the Right to Information law for some civic society groups in Kumasi.It was organized by the Right to Information Commission, in partnership with the International Republican Institute (IRI), with financial support from the United States Agency for Interna tional Development (USAID).The aim was to create a platform for the participants to discuss the RTI law, identify gains and gaps, find how to improve its implementation and address challenges.The RTI law was enacted in 2019 to empower citizens with statutory rights to obtain information from public institutions.This is to foster an environment where government activities are open to public scrutiny and involvement.Madam Mensah said RTI was a fundamental human right, which was entrenched in democratic principles and backed by law to provide the public free access to information.She said RTI was a constitutional guarantee and should be accessible even without the Act.She said women could now have access to information without limits, effectively participate in issues that affected them and be part of development processes.Madam Mensah said the media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) had been instrumental in passing the RTI Bill into law and stressed the need to ensure that all efforts were ma de to make it work properly for the rapid progress of the country.Everyone should not relent in helping in the full implementation of RTI.Mr Kofi Amoah Sarpong, General Manager of Policy Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Right to Information Commission (RTIC)), said the RTI was effectively helping in the fight against corruption among public officials.The RTI, he said was also important in ensuring global practice and sustainable progress among nations and stressed the need for state actors and duty-bearers to work to ensure the realization and full implementation of the law.Mr Sunday Alao, Resident Programmes Director of IRI-Ghana, said RTI would help hold duty bearers accountable for their duties for them to provide better governance.He said with more citizens empowered to actively engage duty bearers, it would inspire their performance and taxes paid would be put to good use.Source: Ghana News Agency