Freedom of Information: The Act, Ideal and Practice (Published)
A Government’s commitment to openness is its ability to avail public information to citizens. In this regard Governments are expected to release information to facilitate public participation in policy formulation, decision-making and service delivery. Against this background the Government of Sierra Leone in 2013 passed the Right to Access Information Act for the disclosure of information held by public authorities or by persons providing services. Invariably this article critically examined this Right to Access Information Act in relation to constitutional provision, its relation to other international FOI Acts, the importance of information as a natural resource and how it is accessed, the value of records keeping in ensuring freedom of information as inseparable entities, and its pitfalls.
Keywords: Information, Information Management, Sierra Leone, access to information, information provision, information services