Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA-Africa)

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COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

ANSA-Africa is a project of the Economic Governance Programme, IDASA

Publications

National Advocacy Training Conference for the Coalition on the Right to Information in Ghana: "Building blocks for the realization of the Right to Information in Ghana"
19 June 2008

Executive summary

On June 19 – 20, 2008, the Coalition on the Right to Information in Ghana hosted a National Advocacy Training Conference on Freedom of Information under the theme, "Building Blocks for the Realization of the Right to Information in Ghana." The Conference was funded by the World Bank and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa as part of an undertaking to enhance social accountability measures in public offices.

The Conference was targeted for civil society members that constitute the Coalition. It brought together a cross-section of stakeholders including civil society actors of prominent Ghanaian non-governmental organizations, representatives from Ghana's Government, international delegates and advocates for right to information (RTI).

The goal of the Conference was to build the capacity and expertise of participants on RTI by sharing vital resources, knowledge and technical advocacy skills on the subject. Furthermore, to educate participants on key advocacy strategies specifically aimed at influencing the efficient passage of RTI legislation in Ghana as well as ensuring its effective implementation once passed into law. These objectives were achieved through numerous presentations by renown speakers from within the Commonwealth region including Ghana, South Africa, India and Nigeria who provided insight into advocacy initiatives, best practice laws and standards, civil society involvement and media engagement.

The Conference began with presentations on the legal basis of RTI as encapsulated under various international human rights conventions, regional and national instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Anti-Corruption Convention. These instruments have emphasised the need to protect RTI through passage of specific legislation. The discussion was harmonized with subsequent presentations on the correlation of RTI to the wider scope of human rights including health, water, food, child rights and adequate housing.

Supplementary discussions on the relevance of RTI to the ordinary citizen were made by reference to the provision of basic utilities such as water and the utility of FOI to the media profession, which often plays a “watchdog” role on behalf of the community and thus needs information to better serve the public good. From these discussions participants noted the unique contribution of RTI not only in promoting proactive disclosure of official information but also in protecting potential actors who may disclose information in the interest of the public, in light of the current Whistleblowers Act which has not effectively protected whistleblowers from harassment.

During the Conference, the goals of the Coalition were outlined to include building a strong network to mount pressure on Government to increase accountability and transparency, building partnerships with stakeholders to attract mass support, and mounting a public education campaign to promote public awareness and ownership of the law. Similarly, challenges faced by the Coalition were mentioned, most especially the complexities of the political process and the limited capacity to effectively build RTI awareness amongst diverse groups. As a multi-stakeholder forum, the Conference afforded a valuable opportunity for the Coalition to expand its influence by providing knowledge to participants who can disseminate it in different forums at the local level.

The relevance of RTI to the Ghanaian local community was reiterated by remarks from the World Bank referring to a recent report that revealed gaps in social accountability measures in Ghana that need to be redressed. A representative from the Government of Ghana echoed similar sentiments on the need for RTI, stating that “the necessity of transparency and accountability in government is unquestioned” and that ”the Government is currently working with various stakeholders to improve the Bill.” More emphasis was placed on the need for collective partnership between civil society and the Government in addressing the Bill stating that it is better to spend time revising the Bill to produce an effective law rather than hastening an inadequate Bill.

The utility of RTI was supported by practical examples of videos showing the application of FOI by local communities in South Africa referred to as “Access to Water and Housing in South Africa” and another “Development Project and Corruption in India state of Rajastan.” Both videos showed local villages and marginalized communities in other countries using RTI to gain access to documents to hold their local governments accountable.

Participants were put on an equal footing with their RTI contemporaries during a session on examining RTI laws, which provided critical insight on ideal principles and international best practice standards. These included outlining the difference between “freedom” and “right,” determining the role of the people as owners of the information or stakeholders and including a minimum of narrow exemptions while ensuring that all approved exemptions also have “sunset clauses.” These principles were brought into play by reference to key legislative examples from South Africa, India, Uganda and the Nigerian Bill.

A presentation on the legislative process was also made to assist participants in further appreciating how to make valuable inroads at different stages of the Bill. The necessity of gaining approval and support from members of Parliament rather than attempting to introduce and pass legislation through the Private Members Bill process was also emphasized. Whereas two of such initiatives have successfully transformed into laws in the past, the Private Members Bill process is extremely difficult to overcome and was recommended to be of least priority to the Coalition.

Participants were also put to task to utilize the knowledge acquired during an interactive skill-building activity in which they were divided into nine groups. Each group was given a newspaper article to read and identify possible questions that they would ask government with an effective RTI law in place. This produced a great deal of feedback and practical enlightenment on utilizing RTI in practice.

An instructive presentation assessing the merits and weaknesses of the current RTI Bill prompted a great deal of discourse and constructive remarks from the audience. Similar enthusiasm was expressed during a presentation reflecting on the record-keeping practice in Ghana. The Public Archives Administration and Records Department Act of 1997 obligates all departmental heads to provide records. However, low budgetary allocations to the institutions have accounted for the prevailing inefficiency and poor practice in record-keeping. Still in the absence of credible practice and without binding obligation for record-keeping, the Bill could quite possibly be of no effective value to the ordinary citizen.

Advocacy ideas from initiatives conducted in India, South Africa and Nigeria were discussed. A common feature was civil society’s leading role in influencing RTI laws. For instance, in India the first campaign was initiated by illiterate populations indicating RTI as a functional instrument that can be utilised by all irrespective of status. Essential advocacy tools outlined included: the use of text messages to continually lobby the members of the Nigerian Parliament, issuing of petitions, personalised letters and periodic memos, face-to-face meetings with legislators, and strong relationships with legislatives aides.

The benefits of collective action in form of coalitions were also advanced as essential mechanisms to build the necessary mass to influence change, establish legitimacy, build a collective voice, enhance grassroots participation and add credibility to the group. Similar initiatives on transparency in the West African sub-region were highlighted by a representative from Oxfam under the ‘Right to Know, Right to Decide’ campaign on extractive industries.

Similarly, ideas on how to efficiently utilise the media as a channel of advocacy were examined. It was recommended that the Coalition provide strategic framework on how to engage with the media, develop a proactive attitude to work with the media as vital key players in the campaign and create a media and communications unit to coordinate this task. Additional strategies related to potential techniques of gathering information, the methods of communicating the message to the audience, linking RTI to practical and topical issues, disseminating easy-to-read publications, promoting working relationships with local media networks who will build awareness in the local communities and studying the political landscape and adjusting to it.

At the end of the Conference, participants translated the knowledge gained into practice by identifying relevant advocacy strategies to be applied in their spheres of influence to make RTI a reality in Ghana some of these included;

Monitoring and partaking in media programs on radio and television
Cultivating relationships with radio hosts
Eliciting public input on the Bill
Public campaigns using Billboards, brochures, flyers, and drama to the relevance of RTI
Sending mass text messages
Educating the public by drama
Packaging of information on RTI in briefs
Lobbying politicians and Government actors
Broadening the base and membership of the coalition
Holding mass actions and demonstrations
Directly communicating by letters to particular individuals
Stakeholder consultation with various actors in Ghanaian society
Increasing intra-network communication
Collaborating with the media to reach out the public and issuing news articles
Advocating in particular Ghanaian languages
Holding sensitization programs in the regions of Ghana and documenting them
Lobbying various Ghanaian and international organizations and actors
Spearheading a signature campaign on local, regional, and global levels
Holding a public event on “Right to Information” Day to commemorate RTI, using “Information, Education and Communication (IEC)” to educate and promote RTI
Issuing a communiqué of this National Advocacy Training Conference and its action points and resolutions.

By evaluating the effective and ineffective techniques and methods suggested during the Conference, the Coalition is poised to employ effectual strategies in its campaign to see the RTI legislation passed and implemented without further delay. A positive immediate outcome was the creation of an Implementing Committee tasked to set up a program based on this Conference’s findings. The member organizations include the Secretariat - CHRI, Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana National Association of Teachers, Green Services, Ghana News Agency, and IBIS Ghana. Through this Committee, the Coalition will endeavour to bring to fruition and sustain advocacy strategies identified at the Conference with the objective of influencing the efficient passage of the legislation.

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