The Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC) reminds all public authorities to submit their Annual Compliance Report (ACR) as provided for in the Right to Access Information (RAI) Act 2013 by the deadline of 15th February, 2025
The Commission appreciates the efforts of all those public authorities that have been complying with their obligations under the Right to Access Information Act of 2013 which has progressively increased the rate of compliance over the past five years as clearly manifested in the Commission’s annual reports since 2019. The RAIC urges the those that have not started the process to cease this opportunity and do so.
Public authorities can greatly improve the efficient and timely exchange of public information and build public trust in their service delivery if they timely respond to freedom of information requests and notify the Commission of their compliance with the RAI law through the timely completion and submission of their ACR templates. Public Authorities are to be reminded about a memorandum written in January, 2025 calling on them to submit their ACRs. “Voluntary disclosure of information serves the interest of the public and accentuates the performance of the MDAs. Over and above that, timely submission of their ACR Reports to the Commission is critical to the transparency and accountability that have reputably characterized the growing Sierra Leone open governance ecosystem,” said Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, Chairman and Information Commissioner, Right to Access Information Commission.
The Commission wishes to draw the attention of the Public Authorities to key sections of the RAI Act 2013 that are binding on them. Section 41 stipulates that the Commission should within three months after the end of every financial year submit to the Minister of Information and Civic Education a report for the attention of Parliament and State House on the performance of its functions during that year and on their policies and programmes.
Section 41 (3) again provides that the annual report shall also include an overview of the performance of all public authorities in implementing the Act. Whereas as section 41 (4) states that to enable the Commission to comply with subsection (3), all public authorities should report annually to the Commission on the steps they have taken to implement the Act, including a report on the requests for information they have received and how these have been dealt with. Sections 27, 28, and 29 also oblige them to report on their status of compliance with having a records management unit, a public information officer, and an ICT unit, respectively.
The Commission obliges public bodies to generate timely and quality information and proactively disseminate it for broader access by members of the public and other public authorities. The benefit of this is that the more information routinely published the less need for the public to make request for that information, while at the same time it would stimulate demand for more information, therefore saving time and money.
New technologies make it easier to publish and disseminate information, for example, the template for the Annual Compliance Report is available for download at www.raic.gov.sl. Once completed, it should be submitted via email to the following RAIC officials:
