MONROVIA – Independent Information Commission (IIC) on Tuesday, March 11 concluded series of Freedom of Information and Compliance training for both staff and officials from line ministries, agencies and commissions.
In special remarks at the occasion, IIC Executive Director Madam Lorpu Page said the trainings are a catalyst for capacity building and to ensure that staff are knowledgeable to the FOI law and compliance, and the citizens are educated about their rights to information.
According to the IIC Executive Director, the trainings were aimed at building and strengthening the capacity of staffers to ensure the proper interpretation and application of the Freedom of Information Act.
She said the trainings also marked a vital milestone for the FOI Commission as it seeks to empower its staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to drive growth within the institution.
“It is enhancing our staff performance to ensure that staffs serve the proper goal that is alien with the Commission goal in the next five years,” she said. “To increase the human capacity of the Commission is an important resource that we need. We need to empower, develop our staffs to do their work effective and efficiently, focusing reinforcing the internal capacity of staff to ensure enhanced performance and effectiveness in the Freedom of Information compliance.”
In a related development, the Independent Information Commission also held a Freedom of Information and Compliance training in Gbarnga, Bong County, for officials from line ministries, agencies and commissions.
The training was aimed at building and strengthening the capacity of local officials to ensure the proper interpretation and application of the Freedom of Information Act.
Addressing the Gbarnga session, the Commissioner of the Independent Information Commissioner, Hon Joash T. Hodges, called on CSOs who had previously been denied access to information or given deaf ears after exhausting the internal review process to file their complaints with the Independent Information Commissioner office for redress through the County FOI Hub Coordinator.
Commissioner Hodges emphasized that his visit along with the Executive Director, Hon. Lorpu P. Page, to the County was part of an effort to fulfil the Commission’s decentralization commitments under the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID).
He said the training underscored the scope of the law, the mandate of the Commissions the steps and procedures in accessing public information and the statutory exemptions of the FOI Law.
He also noted that awareness and decentralization of the Commission’s activities is one of the IIC key commitments under the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development.
Commissioner Joash T Hodges encouraged applicants who have exhausted the interview process and are not satisfied with its outcome to file a complaint with his office through the County Hub Coordinator.
The Freedom of Information Commissioner also call for increase budgetary support to the Commission to enhance effective the working of the institution.
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