Proactive Disclosure of Information

Proactive disclosure is not a privilege. Rather, it is an obligation of all institutions to which the right of access to information applies. It is an imperative for transparency. It has the potential to provide information to the community faster and at a lower cost. It reduces time and resources in processing individual information requests and demonstrates commitment to openness, ac­countability and transparency, accountability which in turn will increase people’s confidence in government. The willingness on the part of public institutions in all arms and tiers of government to embrace the culture of proactive disclosure of information, both as a key obligation and an essential requirement of access to information rights is weak. Voluntary disclosure of information serves the interest of the citizens and accentuates the performance of the public sector.

Though the RAI Act says that six months after its passage the relevant MDAs should have submitted their Proactive Disclosure Schemes to the RAIC for examination and approval, five years down the line very few government enti­ties have been able to do so.

To strengthen the proactive disclosure of information efforts, the RAIC and PFMICP through the Open and Big Data component of the World Bank supported ten government ministries, departments and agencies to develop their proactive disclosure schemes. The objective of this project is for the 22 minimum classes of information that are referenced in Section 8 of the RAI Act to be proactively disclosed.

The Commission organized a very successful Proactive Disclosure of Information (PDI) forum launched on 6th De­cember 2018 by the then Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Solomon Jamiru on behalf the Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. The forum attracted about 200 participants; these include:

Statistics Sierra Leone; National Civil Registration Authority; Sierra Leone Police; Parliament; Ministry of Health and Sanitation; National Revenue Authority; National Public Procurement Authority; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security; Environmental Protection Agency; and Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

These carefully selected ten pilot MDAs were piloted to open the door for the compre­hensive disclosure of information in all MDAs in the country. It was a renewed enthusi­asm to finally let citizens fully enjoy their right to information. The Chairman and Informa­tion Commissioner of RAIC,

Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, who assumed office in barely a month, said the RAIC is the only institution in Sierra Leone with the legal mandate to lead the process of promot­ing access to information and open data through proactive disclosure of information by public authorities.

Key issues deliberated include:

• The Proactive Disclosure Scheme: Obligations for Public Authorities
• Measures to Promote Openness: Information, Data and Records Management and its Sustainability in the New Dispensation
• The Data Revolution: Data Integrity, Availability and Accountability for Effective Decision-Making
• Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods of Disclosure: The Sierra Leone Expe­rience
• Data Protection, Privacy and Confidentiality
• Introducing the Proactive Disclosure of Information Project

Following this development, the Commission organized a Proactive Disclosure of Infor­mation (PDI) Workshop on January 8-12 , 2019 at Radisson Blu with 80 participants in attendance from MDAs and CSOs. With World Bank funding, the Commission organized a roundtable on PDI deadline at the Family Kingdom on 29th March 2019 where a new deadline was announced. In view of increasing the compliance rate of PDI, the Commis­sion has been facilitating workshops with representatives from MDAs every Wednesday, known as PDI Wednesday, at the Ministry of Information on the development of Proac­tive Disclosure Scheme.

Proactive Disclosure in the Regions:  Read More