Chair Charles Njie was speaking at Friday’s press conference marking the 2-year anniversary of the signing of the Access to Information Act, 2021, held at the Ministry of Information Conference Hall, Kanifing.
“As a country, having access to information legislation is not the be-all and end-all of our quest as a nation to ensuring people fully enjoy their right of access to public information or ensuring transparency and accountability in government and governance processes,” he said.
He went on to explain that the roadmap which was supposed to give direction and serve as a strategic plan for the implementation of the ATI law, which was submitted to the Ministry of Information on 28 November 2022, has not been adopted by the Ministry as the National Roadmap. He added that despite the consultations with the Ministry before the development of the document, the Ministry decided to develop a new roadmap, saying it was a clear duplication of efforts and a waste of resources.
Njie said this has significantly affected the implementation of the law, adding that the Ministry currently lacks a clear direction for the operationalisation of the law. He stated that they have resolved with the Ministry to work on synchronising the roadmaps and have one that we all can work with.
“A fundamental challenge in the implementation of the access to information law is the establishment of the Information Commission. The law provides for the establishment of a Commission whose primary duty would be to promote and protect the right of access to information. The Commission would also be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the legislation and would have powers to hear appeals for information requests and to make orders for such information to be produced or released. Despite the creation of a budget by the Ministry of Information for the establishment of the Commission in 2023, we are yet to see much activity in this direction, seven months into the calendar year.”
Chair Njie further highlighted that the ATI law provides for the appointment of Five Commissioners. These Commissioners, he said, are to be appointed by the President in consultation with the Public Service Commission, subject to approval by the National Assembly. “It’s been two years since the signing of the law, not a single Commissioner has been appointed. It is the position of the CSO Coalition on ATI that the creation of the Key Stakeholder Consultative forum by the Ministry of Information is a step in the right direction as it provides an inclusive approach to dealing with key issues in the implementation process.
