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In the government weekly press conference, the Chairman and Information Commissioner, Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw of Right to Access Information (RAIC) boasted of providing information to over 19.000 people in the country in just this year.
The Commissioner also showcased their successes in the past 10 years, expressing how the office provided information to 13,000 last year, and that they are making sure to change the face of public information.
He went on to state that it was a moment for them to reflect on where they had come from, where they are, and where they want to go. He mentioned that their work was to increase transparency and accountability, but before doing that, they had to set the standard. By doing so, they created a website, and they are also encouraging all public offices to do the same.
He noted that they had applied two approaches to making their work easy. One of them was to popularize the law, and they had been doing that and also building the capacity of people who requested information and supplying them with the correct register of the law.
He underscored that the compliance rate had increased, and people were beginning to understand the reason for access to information. He further stated that the number of information requests by people was 112, but it has increased to 144, and out of that 132 were successfully responded to.
Shaw added that they had introduced ACR to only monitor what they produce but to also get the request of information public authority had given to them. He announced that they had a penalty for any authority who failed to provide information to re the public as Section 45 of their Act o gave them the power and that they A had taken action in the past.
He advised that if you requested an i interview with a public authority and they refused to grant you the interview, you should write the question you want to ask and submit it to their office. They will provide you with the answers within 15 working days.
He also clarified that public and private authorities are hinged by the Right to Access Information Commission as long as they are • receiving donor monies in the name of funding, contract, or donation. Although their mandate did not cover private institutions, if a private institution wins a government contract or funding, it is mandatory for them to give access to information about their entity.
He also promised that they had been engaging with their line ministry to amend the clause in their Act that excludes private institutions because it is also important for them to be part of their Act.
