NAYMOTE and its partners have trained community-based organisations’ youth and student leaders, as well as journalists, and civil society actors on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in Montserrado, Bong and Margibi Counties of Liberia.
Established in 2001, NAYMOTE is a leading grassroots organisation that promotes democracy, peace, human rights, and civic engagement in Liberia.
The training, Development Diaries gathered, was conducted to enable easy access to the free flow of information in the West African country.
Access to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution of Liberia.
‘There shall be no limitation placed on the public right to be informed about the government and its functionaries’, Article 15c of the Liberian constitution read.
The Liberia Freedom of Information Act was adopted and signed into Law on 16 September, 2010, during the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
On 21 February, 2019, President George Weah signed into law the ‘Kamara Abdullah Kamara Act of Press Freedom’ to promote free speech, the right to freedom and access to information.
Independent Information Commission (IIC) Assistant Outreach Director, Johnson Armah, said the IIC had the power to request information from public bodies that refuse to release information to the public.
‘If an institution is refusing to release information, the IIC can compel you to release that information’, Armah said.
‘We can also request the information that is being requested by the requester to make a determination as to whether this information should be given or not’.
Development Diaries learnt that during the training, many of the participants said they were unaware of the workings of the IIC.
Armah also said the penalty for those institutions that violate the FOI law and refuse to provide information through their office will be fine depending on the number of requests sent to their office.
‘A fine of L$5,000 or L$10,000 will be requested for institutions that violate the FOI Law plus two months suspension without pay’, he said.
Source: Daily Observer
Photo source: Daily Observer
