The Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC) South intensifies its popularization drive of the Right to Access Information (RAI) law in the Southern region.
The latest of such engagements is consultations with the staff and pupils of Namiya Islamic Secondary School Bo on 3rd of November 2022. Public Information Officer South Millicent Braima gave a background of how the commission came into existence following the passing of the RAI law in 2013, noting the primary mandate of the RAIC is to promote access to information held by public authorities. She further assured them that the RAIC will come in when there are refusals to disclose information. She said that the act clearly stated in section two that everyone has the right to request for information from any public authority and the public authority is obliged to disclose information as long as it does not fall under the category of exempt listed from section 12 to 26 of the RAI act.
She told the school the importance of the RAI law in the fight against corruption, and the promotion of transparency, accountability and good governance in a country. She told them that ‘public authority is not only limited to the government body but to any institution or individuals that receive money on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone. She admonished the administration to allow access to information whenever the need arises.
The public Information officer also told the staff and pupils of the school about the resource center at their regional office where they should be visiting to access free internet as a way of complementing government’s effort to access of information.
