Ghana to mark Right to Know Day on September 28

Ghana is to celebrate International Right to Know Day on for September 28, with a nation-wide public awareness crusade on the individual’s right of access to government-held information.

The public awareness crusade seeks to highlight transparency and accountability as keys to good governance and the need to allow the public access to government-held information as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, which includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medium regardless of frontiers,” a statement issued by the Coalition on Right to Information (RTI), to Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday stated.

The celebration is to raise awareness of every individual’s right of access to government-held information: the right to know how elected officials are exercising power and how the tax-payers’ money is being spent.

It is on the theme: “Information is a way to development. Your Right to Know”.

The RTI Coalition has, therefore, appealed to labour unions, traditional rulers, political parties, religious bodies, civil society and non-governmental bodies to mark the day with localised activities.

Additionally, it appealed to the media, Ghana Journalists Association and National Media Commission, considered as key stakeholders in information dissemination, to create a platform for the citizenry to engage their leaders in healthy debates on basic issues of life.

“We also call on the Government to demonstrate its commitment to the tenets of transparency and accountability to publish reports about the current state of access to information in Ghana,” the statement stated.

The Day was first celebrated on 23 September 2003 and 2011.

Source: GNA