IPNEWS: The Executive Director of the Independent Information Commission (IIC), Mr. Emmanuel D. Howe has commended President George Manneh Weah for his commitment to upholding the freedom of information regime in Liberia. Mr. Howe said the recent retreat held at the Farmington Hotel for Public Relations Officers and Government Communicators was a clear manifestation of the President’s wiliness to have citizens exercise the right of access to information. Mr. Howe said the President’s challenge to the Communicators to be open in all that they do and explain the PAPD to every sector of society and be transparent in their dealings was an important message for the FOI law to be upheld by those responsible to the people.

According to a Release from the IIC, the Executive Director said Article 15(c) of the Constitution guarantees that “every citizen has the right to be informed of the functionaries of government at all times”, and it was in line with this that President Weah joined the Communicators from various Ministries and Agencies to encourage them to make the government open and accessible in every way. Mr. Howe said access to information is a cardinal tool for good decision-making and development, as such when citizens are adequately informed of the activities of government, there will be no room for speculations and accusations. He praised the President for being a listening leader who comes down the ladder to interact with employees of the government who are tasked to propagate the government’s development agenda.

Mr. Howe said the commitment of the President to urge Government Communicators to adhere to the principles of access to information and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) is welcoming and laudable. He praised the President for leading by example and supporting the work of those responsible to inform the citizens.  Meanwhile, the IIC Executive Director has also commended Information Minister Legerhood Julius Rennie for making the Ministry of Information accessible to those seeking information on government programs. He said Minister Rennie’s constant interaction with government communicators was a positive step in making Liberia adheres to the access to information regime passed into law in 2010.

In another development, Mr. Howe is calling on all public and private entities (carrying out public services) to appoint, if not already appointed, their Public Information Officer (PIO) in line with Section 3.6 of the Freedom of Information Act. He said the responsibility of the Public Information Officer shall be to receive requests for information held by the authority or entity and coordinate the response(s) of the authority or entity to all such requests. The designated staff shall serve as the primary contact of the authority or agency with the public relative to the request for the provision of information. The Executive Director said the IIC will shortly embark on an exercise to update the list of appointed Public Information Officers across government and private institutions receiving government funding or performing public services.