Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that the right to information law (RTI) is working and called on journalists to test the law to assist the government to correct any challenges that come with it.
“The right to information has been passed into law and working to ensure that journalists can get access to information from public offices as a matter of right by law and its working so we ask of you to test it in this early stage so that if there are any challenges we will be able to correct it.”
According to the minister, the information service department of the ministry for information has recruited and deployed over 100 RTI officers to provide information to any applicant.
He indicated that Akufo-Addo’s administration is very committed to ensuring that the media industry works well.
“The NPP administration over the years anytime we are in power we invest in deepening freedom of speech and so you will recall that the Kufour administration revoked the criminal liable law, former president Kufour provided the press centre to support our work as journalists.”
Mr Nkrumah noted that the government went a step further to opened the office for the Coordinated Mechanism on the safety of Journalists where journalists make a report if they feel they have been threatened or attacked in line with their work.
“ This is another layer of the Akufo-Addo’s administration to ensure that we deepen the culture of free expression in this country, every citizen can speak his or her mind freely without any hindrance and the media has been operating freely as well.
This claim that there is something called the Culture of Silence in this country cannot be true,” he said.
The Information Minister ended his tour of the five regions of the North on Saturday, May 8, 2021.
He visited the Upper West, Savannah and Northern region to end the tour.
He interacted with journalists from the various regions, members of the information service department and party communicators.
Mr Nkrumah thanked journalists in the various regions for their hard work adding that the media is a stakeholder in the development of the country.
He encouraged journalists from the Upper West, Savannah and Northern regions to be promoters and advocates of their regions to attract investment and tourism which will go a long way to benefit the various regions.
“You have fantastic potentials in the five regions of the north and that is the potentials you need to sell and promote and I want to ask you our colleagues in the media that in addition hold government accountable also make time to promote your regions that will be your contribution to the growth and development of the region.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale
