By Bobor Dan Kamara
Director General of the Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC) Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw has said the absence of timely and credible information can trigger misinformation.
He made this statement on October 16, 2024, during the commemoration of the Commission’s 10th anniversary.
His comment has come in the wake of the delay and the lack of willingness by MDA’s to provide timely information.
In the pursuit of combating misinformation and disinformation, Dr. Shaw said public authorities should endeavour to publish information accurately and appropriately.
He disclosed that in 2023, his commission received 19,496 requests for information in which 90% of the said figure was a success and a milestone achievement in the history of accessing information in Sierra Leone.
Of the 144 requests made in 2020, Dr. Shaw said 132 came as a success. “In 2021, 369 cases were reported with 345 success, and in 2022, out of 13,107 cases, 10,237 success came as a success,” he revealed.
The RAIC Boss counted the gains as a success. He described it as a testament to the effectiveness of the introduction of the Annual Compliance Report of Public Authority in Sierra Leone and the popularization of the Right to Access Information Act of 2013.
He confirmed that the Commission had no website and no auditing mechanism prior to his appointment, a reason they decided to develop and launch a website in 2019, and also invited the Audit Service Sierra Leone to realize proper financial mechanism system.
Dr. Shaw encouraged media practitioners to be at liberty to write the RAIC to lure public authority to be transparent and be accountable as enshrined in the RAIC Act of 2013.
