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The Chairman of the Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC) Dr. Ibrahim Sheaga Shaw has stressed the successes of the Right to Information (RAI) law, which he said relies greatly on records management.
RAIC as an entity is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring public officials have proper records to enable them, provide access to information. He said without proper records keeping there would be no access to information.
Dr. Ibrahim Sheaga Shaw made these remarks yesterday while officially welcoming participants at a one-day capacity building workshop on records management held at the Family Kingdom Resort, in Aberdeen. He said RAI law is crucial to the establishment and implementation of the records management code of practice.
Dr Shaw noted that, record keeping is a fundamental activity of public administration, noting that in the absence of records there can be no rule of law and no accountability. He emphasized the importance of the code of practice for records management and on how to use it to support their professional practice.
The Chairman of RAIC said similar training will be carried out in the provinces for records management professionals attached to various range of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). He thanked the Ministry of Finance for providing the funding for this workshop.
In his brief statement, the Assistant Auditor General of Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) Mr. Morie Lansana said the ASSL is the supreme audit institution in Sierra Leone, charged with the responsibility to audit public offices.
He said the mandate of the Auditor General is specified in Section 119 (2) of the 1991 constitution. Mr. Lansana pointed out that in the course of carrying out their mandate, the Auditor General shall have access to all books, records, returns, and other documents relating or relevant to those accounts.
The Assistant Auditor General told participants that records should be our greatest asset adding that the choice is to all public officials that small record kept today may be your great saviour tomorrow.
The Minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah thanked the management and staff of RAIC led by Dr. Ibrahim Sheaga Shaw for a job well done. He also thanked the former Minister of Information Mohamed Raman Swarray for laying the foundation to repel those outdated laws and assured RAIC that all the laws currently in force will make sure that public officials discharge their functions effectively and efficiently. Other stakeholders that made brief statements were the Records Management Consultant Mr. Munir Kawa, the Chairman Public Service Commission Alhaji K.O. Bah, Mr. IS Kamara of HRMO, Prof. John Kargbo of Fourah Bay College.
Participants were drawn from a diverse range of Ministries, Departments and Agencies including the RSLAF, SLP, Parliament.
The ceremony was chaired by the Executive Secretary of the RAIC, Hon. Mustapha Brima
