Oppong Nkrumah: 87% of requests under RTI have come from Greater Accra Region
At least 87% of the information request through the Right to Information (RTI) since 2022 has come from the Greater Accra Region, the Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said.
Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (11 May), Oppong Nkrumah said the ministry will intensify public education on request for information through the RTI.
“About 87% of the information request since 2022 has come from the Greater Accra Region. Nine from the Ashanti Region, the rest are spread across regions, Western North is zero, Bono Region is zero, Upper West is zero, North East is zero and Northern Region is zero.”
“Democracy succeeds when there are facts and truths. You need to have a system where there are facts and where the truth is told. It’s important to have access to facts in a democracy that’s when the truth will be known, so it’s a big deal,” Oppong Nkrumah said.
Over 1,000 RTI requests made since 2019
The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that over 1,000 Right to Information (RTI) requests have been made since the passage of the law in 2019.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday (10 May), Nkrumah said there has been a significant increase in the number of requests for access to information over the past three years since the implementation of the RTI act.
Out of the total number of requests, 838 have been granted, 47 have been rejected with 45 of them transferred, he said.
Nkrumah said rejected requests have remained low due to the technical support provided by the Access to Information Division (ATID) to public institutions.
“ATID provides the technical support to public institutions to enable them to fulfill their obligations in granting access to information. When institutions take advantage of this, they avoid any compliant issues,” Oppong Nkrumah said.
He also said that the RTI Commission (RTIC) has been granted prosecutorial powers by the attorney general’s office to prosecute offenders. He encouraged citizens to make use of the RTI Act, as it will further strengthen democracy in Ghana.
“The effective usage of the RTI Act will further strengthen our democracy, so we encourage all to play their part,” he said.
