Public Affairs Manager for the Right to Information Secretariat, Christiana Okeyerebia Oppong Adom, has emphatically stated no public institution is exempted from the application of the RTI law.
She noted that regardless of which ministry or institution you represent, you should be able to make information available once it’s requested for.
However, she was quick to add that there were some exemptions, regarding information one could access.
“The RTI law works on the basis that citizens, as a matter of right, are entitled to access information about every public institution’s work. However, not every information can be given out as some may relate to people’s privacy, state security and issues of national intelligence and international relations. Therefore, some categories of information are exempt from disclosure and thus inaccessible to applicants. She said on Movement TV with Kwaku Dawuro.
She cited information prepared for the President, Cabinet and Vice President in other to take certain decisions cannot be released. Because, once it gets to the public domain, it may prejudice the decision-making process.
However, the information officer should be able to explain to whoever is requesting for the information, to the best of the person’s understanding, the reason for which he/she cannot access such information.