By Saffiatou Colley
Gambia Press Union (GPU), in collaboration with the Ministry of Information (MoIN), on Thursday engaged Permanent Secretaries from various ministries on the implementation of the Access to Information Act, 2021 and good document management practices.
This activity forms part of a two-year project funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) that the Gambia Press Union (GPU) is implementing working closely with the Civil Society Coalition on Access to Information, the Media Council of the Gambia, and the Ministry of Information (MoIN), and the Department of Information Services (DOIS).
Section 6 of the ATI law creates a duty on every public body (institution) to create, keep, organize and maintain its information in a manner which facilitates access to information.
This follows that public bodies should produce information in respect of all their activities; arrange all information in their possession systematically and in a manner that facilitates prompt and easy identification and access; and keep all information in their possession in good condition and in a manner that preserves the safety and integrity of its contents.
The discussions for the one-day engagement focused on issues related to Good Document Management Practices for Government Institutions, and Traditional Paper Record Management Systems and Electronic Record Management Systems. The engagement also involved discussions of Case Studies on ATI Law Implementation from other Countries and Best Practices that Gambian public institutions could adopt.
“Before 2017, the right to information in The Gambia was shrouded in politicization and misrepresentation. The result was a significant limitation on access to information and a denial of the citizens’ right to know,” GPU President, Muhammed S. Bah, said. “Now that we have an ATI legislation which is in its implementation phase, the role of the Permanent Secretaries becomes indispensable as they are the key administrators, decision-makers, and enforcers within the public sector, thus their engagement is vital to ensure the effective application of the ATI Act.”
While Section 7 of the Act imposes an obligation on government bodies to publish certain kinds of information proactively, even in the absence of a request, Section 8 of the Act provided for the submission of Implementation Plans to the Information Commission detailing how they intend to ensure access to information in relation to their proactive disclosure responsibilities.
In her keynote statement, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Amie Njie, said that “to ensure the effective implementation of the ATI law, an eighteen (18) months moratorium was enforced to establish the pre-requisite implementation structures, including the establishment of the ATI Commission, the custodian of the ATI Act.”
“Therefore, as the legislation enters its implementation phase, it is critical to sensitize all stakeholders on the ATI law,” Njie said. “In this regard, I wish to implore all to make the session as engaging as possible by asking as many relevant questions as possible, to help ensure that by the end of the session we would be well equipped to support the ATI Commission in facilitating the smooth implementation of the law.”
The engagement is aimed at exposing permanent secretaries to good practices on ATI law implementation plans from other countries and effective public information management practices that facilitates easy access to information.
