Your right to know : lessons from the implementation of access to information policies in the developing world.
Date: 2023-09-28
Institutions: European University Institute
Subjects: access to information, developing countries, development policy, digital technology, governance, right to information

POLICY BRIEFYOUR RIGHT TO KNOW: LESSONS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION POLICIES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLDSTG Policy PapersISSUE 2023/25SEPTEMBER 2023Author:Michael GyekyeSchool of Transnational GovernanceSCHOOL OFTRANSNATIONALGOVERNANCEEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Access  to  information  from  public  bodies  is  vital  to  ensure 
transparency  and  accountability  from  governing  institutions.  It 
should  be  an  overarching  imperative  in  the  developing  world 
where state-citizen bonds are often frazzled by rampant corruption 
and  erratic  public  services.  In  recent  years,  policy-makers  have 
pursued  this  objective  through  a  variety  of  open  governance 
mechanisms,  notably,  Access  To  Information  (ATI)  legislations 
and  policies.  This  policy  brief  presents  the  lessons  from  the 
comparative  scrutiny  of  the  ATI  policy  regimes  of  Ghana,  India 
and South Africa – three pivotal democracies in the Global South 
– for signal lessons for ATI policy practitioners worldwide. Central 
observations include nagging concerns about policy adaptability 
and leadership, non-tech savvy bureaucracies, legislative design, 
arbitrary disenfranchisement of information seekers, and logistical 
logjams.  Policy  stakeholders  are  challenged  to  direct  efforts  at 
spreading good policy adaptation norms, fostering technological 
adoption,  promoting 
legislative  dexterity,  curbing  wanton 
disenfranchisements, and facilitating access to relevant logistics.

Author:Michael Adu Gyekye | Policy Leader Fellow (2022-2023), School of Transnational Governance, EUI Views expressed in this publication reflect the opinion of individual authors and not those of the European University Institute.SCHOOL OFTRANSNATIONALGOVERNANCE1. OVERVIEW

Thomas Jefferson said he would be content to 
live in a society without a government if it came 
at  the  expense  of  one  without  newspapers. 
His famous bargain is a rousing endorsement 
of  information  as  the  lifeblood  of  any  vibrant 
democracy. The deep and timeless resonance 
of  his  sentiment  with  governance  policy 
thinkers is evident in Article 19 of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, Target 10 of the 
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, and 
various contemporary efforts at mainstreaming 
open governance and information access tools 
in the canon of democratic practice.

Faced  with  their  own  needs  to  deepen  civic 
engagement, cement trust with taxpayers and 
combat  pervasive  and  obscene  tendencies 
of  corruption,  governments  in  developing 
countries across the globe are sparing no effort 
in  leveraging  open  governance  instruments 
like  Access  To  Information  (ATI)  laws  and 
policies, to both expand corridors of dialogue 
between  taxpayers  and  public  duty-bearers, 
and reinvent insular bureaucracies.

In a truly remarkable feat of open governance 
activism  in  recent  decades,  about  two-thirds 
of all member countries of the United Nations, 
including  more  than  85  non-OECD  countries, 
currently  possess  an  Access  To  Information 
guarantee – occurring in the form of a national 
law  and/or  constitutional  guarantee.  In  Africa 
today,  ATI  laws  have  bisected  the  continent 
like  an  iron  curtain  –  separating  the  bloc  of 
countries with the laws from the neighbouring 
bloc of wistful or unfazed laggards.

Commonly  similar  in  at  least  their  avowed 
aims,  ATI  instruments  across  the  developing 
world  are  not  always  identical  in  their  origins 
and  triggers  (Neuman,  L  &  Calland  R,  2007). 
While some, like Ghana’s Right To Information 
(RTI) Act, 2019, and India’s Right To Information 
(RTI)  Act,  2005,  seem  organic  outgrowths 
of  rather  laboured  democratic  maturations 
across  decades,  others  merely  mushroom  as 
fulfilments  of  foreign  aid  conditionalities  by 
desperate  governments,  or  sops  to  growling 
publics from embattled rulers. Not infrequently, 
the  roots  of  the  instruments  are  uncanny 
their  effectiveness.  While 
bellwethers  of 

ATI  tools  carved  in  the  boisterous  arenas  of 
competitive democracies translate the political 
bargains  of  their  nativity  into  widespread 
legitimacy  and  built-in  capabilities  for  deftly 
navigating interlocking policy objectives, their 
improvised  counterparts  are 
mischievously 
rarely mistaken as distracting gimmicks.

While  it  is  difficult  to  affirm  a  causal  link 
between  ATI  guarantees,  especially  national 
legislations,  and  governance  openness,  the 
potentially vital roles of such legal instruments 
as statutory buffers of the fundamental human 
right  of  access  to  information  cannot  be 
downplayed.  Their  notable  resilience  against 
political  idiosyncrasies  especially  underlines 
their superiority over rival policy tools.

rewards 

risks 
The  complex  calculus  of  political 
the  pursuit  of 
and 
in 
inherent 
in  developing 
open  governance  policies 
countries  implies  the  dispositions  of  national 
governments  towards  such  policies  would  be 
cued by political exigencies. Open governance 
champions  must  reckon  with  this  reality  and 
tactfully  harness  promising  avenues  to  spark 
substantive policy breakthroughs.

As  ATI 
tools  become  assimilated  by 
developing countries, it is imperative for policy 
implementation  experiences 
to  engender 
cross-country reflections for the discovery and 
inter-jurisdictional exchange of lessons, for the 
purposes  of  policy  improvements,  enhanced 
advocacy, and the timely deflection of any anti-
transparency shenanigans.

Boasting  nearly  a  half  century  of  combined 
experience  in  the  implementation  of  open 
governance  policies  anchored  on  ATI  laws, 
a  shared  common 
law  heritage,  vibrant 
democratic regimes, and enviable reputations 
as sub-regional economic powerhouses, Ghana, 
India  and  South  Africa,  are  three  impassable 
candidates for a multinational appraisal of ATI 
policy implementation experiences across the 
developing world. Their policy milestones and 
missteps are wellsprings of salutary lessons.

2. POLICY CONCERNS AND LESSONS 
FROM THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION 
IMPLEMENTATION 
(ATI) 
INDIA 
EXPERIENCES  OF  GHANA, 

POLICY 

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STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023AND SOUTH AFRICA

Key Concerns

i.  Struggles  with  policy  adaptability  and 
leadership:  Neo-colonial 
influences  on 
the  adoption  of  ATI  policy  tools  in  the 
developing  world,  particularly  legislations, 
which are often occasioned by heavy foreign 
assistance  to  domestic  policy  midwives, 
tend  to  imbue  them  with  provisions  and 
features hardly in sync with prevailing local 
legal  and  bureaucratic  norms,  eventually 
complicating policy implementation.  Access 
To  Information  laws  cloned  from  highly-
regarded  international  model  drafts  tend 
to  retain  provisions  that  are  context-blind. 
Infamously, the designation of Information 
Officers (regardless of rank) as addressees, 
recipients  and  adjudicators  of  original 
information  requests  by  Ghana’s  Right  To 
Information Act, 2019, has been a notable 
source  of  bureaucratic  unease.  The  local 
bureaucratic custom required the routing of 
all  organisational  correspondence  through 
the  head  of  organisation,  not  to  mention 
the  taking  of  decisions  on  information 
disclosure to external agents. This normative 
upheaval  induced  by  the  law  has  been 
culpable for instances of slow disposals of 
information requests, and engendered only 
listless  bureaucratic  adaptation.  Frequent 
and  rigorous  requirements  on  reporting 
and  public  monitoring,  especially 
in 
respect of the policy’s principal institutional 
spearhead – the Right To Information (RTI) 
Commission – which are also mandated by 
the  law,  have  been  another  steep  albeit 
laudable  normative  learning  curve.  The 
hobbling  of  policy  implementation  and 
robust  leadership  have  been  some  of  the 
unfortunate  outcomes  of  these  normative 
skirmishes in both Ghana and India.

ii.  Legislative  defects:  Ghana’s  Right  To 
Information Act, 2019, provides no ironclad 
indemnities to bureaucrats who adjudicate 
information requests. Its immunity provisions 
are  quite  incoherent  and  timorous.  The 
resulting apprehension inclines bureaucrats 
to  risk-aversion,  defensive  conduct  and 
laxity in sharpening adjudication skills. The 

situation is not much different in India. Like 
both India and South Africa, Ghana’s ATI law 
further subjugates all similar-ranked statues 
to itself in respect of information disclosure 
–  a  lingering  source  of  opprobrium  from 
many  institutions  impliedly  deprived  of 
opportunities 
information 
for  alleged 
commoditization.  Unlike  the  ATI  laws  of 
both  India  and  South  Africa  however, 
Ghana’s  law  omits  the  national  legislature 
from  the  appointment  process  of  the 
governing body of the Right To Information 
Commission  –  which  together  with  its 
ambiguity about the terms of service of the 
Commission’s  Executive  Secretary,  does 
no  favour  to  public  scepticism  about  the 
Commission’s neutrality and autonomy.

iii.  Arbitrary 

disenfranchisement 

of 
target  policy  beneficiaries:  Ghana’s 
Right  To  Information  Act,  2019,  requires 
information  requests  to  be  accompanied 
by  applicants’  personal  identification  (i.e. 
personal  government-issued  identification 
documents)  ostensibly  for  security  and 
statistical purposes. This mandate invariably 
risks  the  arbitrary  violation  of  the  rights 
of  individuals  who  lack  such  identification 
materials 
fault. 
through  no  personal 
In 
trauma-filled  emergency  situations, 
this  obligation  of  applicants  could  have 
dire  consequences.  This 
identification 
requirement  is  also  particularly  tenuous 
considering  any  information  (other  than 
personal  information  requested  directly 
or  by  proxy)  that  can  be  exclusively  and 
directly  disclosed  to  an  applicant  could 
alternatively  be  broadcast  to  the  general 
public  by  the  information  holder  under 
Ghana’s ATI law. In India, reports of violent 
attacks  of  some  information  seekers  are 
starkly disturbing reminders of the possible 
dangers  that  betide  information  seekers 
whose  personal 
identification  materials 
may  land  with  rather  unscrupulous  and 
corrupt  bureaucrats.  Information  request 
fees as charged  in India and  South Africa, 
could  also  pose  significant  barriers  to  the 
exercise of the fundamental right of access 
information  by  poorly  documented 
to 
ill-
residents  of  developing  countries 

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STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023equipped 
waivers.

to  demand  applicable 

fee 

iv.  Technological  challenges: 

Information 
access  policies  form  the  nexus  of  law 
enforcement,  public  administration,  and 
public information management. Each arm 
of  the  tripod  allies  effectively  with  digital 
innovations to boost policy success. Ghana 
lacks a well-curated unitary/national digital 
platform  for  the  filing  and  processing  of 
information  requests. 
India  and  South 
Africa  are  no  significant  improvements. 
Digital archival facilities in public agencies 
are also rare in Ghana. On the information 
supply side, such digital handicaps impinge 
through  poor 
information  availability 
archiving.  They  also  imbue  information 
exchanges  between  information  seekers 
and bureaucrats with data security risks. On 
the demand side, these digital shortcomings 
information 
perpetuate 
stressful 
application  processes  marked  by 
the 
physical submission of applications, manual 
payments,  and  occasional  squabbles  with 
stern  bureaucrats.  This  modus  operandi 
repels teeming netizens whose embrace of 
ATI policies is indispensable to their broad 
public  patronage.  Ghana’s  average  daily 
record of less than one information request 
nationwide,  in  its  opening  three  years  of 
RTI law enforcement, is quite instructive.

v.  Logistical  roadblocks:  Ghana’s  Right  To 
is  precariously 
Information  Commission 
over-reliant  on  government  budgetary 
allocations,  imposed  fines  and  charitable 
funding. 
for 
donations 
institutional 
in  such  contexts  are 
Resource  flows 
appreciably 
inadequate 
digitalization  of  information  request  and 
supply processes, tardy enforcement of the 
Right To Information Commission’s rulings, 
and paucity of digital-savvy public outreach 
by  the  Commission  (a  particular  challenge 
not  unfamiliar  to  India)  are  all  hard  to 
decouple  from  the  Commission’s  financial 
and logistical headwinds.

fickle. 

The 

3. RECOMMENDATIONS

i.  Spread policy norms: Access To Information 

champions worldwide must revitalise efforts 
to  inculcate  positive  policy  development 
and  implementation  norms  in  key  policy 
implementing agencies and bureaucrats in 
developing countries. Fora for exploring and 
exchanging efficient policy implementation 
norms should be reinvigorated. ATI policies 
must  also  be  deliberately  developed 
and  implemented  with  adequate 
local 
stakeholder inputs and regular stakeholder 
engagement 
facilitate 
respectively, 
their  synchronization  with  appropriate 
domestic  contexts.  Ghana’s  RTI  Act,  2019 
commendably  mandates  civil 
society 
engagement 
its  enforcement,  and 
in 
had  witnessed  civil  society  engagement 
in  its  enactment  in  earlier  years.  Other 
jurisdictions  should  emulate  Ghana’s  legal 
codification of civil society engagement.

to 

ii.  Enact 

  dexterous 

laws:  Access  To  
Information 
laws  should  be  designed 
with  significant  sophistication  though  in 
accessible  languages  to  curb  unhelpful 
controversies and scepticism. Provisions on 
information disclosure which seek to override 
similar provisions in peer legislations should 
be skilfully drafted to pre-empt mischievous 
and  opportunistic 
interpretations.  The 
laws  should  provide  clear  and  sufficient 
indemnities  to  bureaucrats  tasked  with 
making  occasionally  high-stakes  calls  on 
information requests. Tough administrative 
sanctions  for  derelict  bureaucrats  may  be 
preferred  in  the  large  majority  of  cases. 
The  laws  should  also  encourage  political 
impartiality  and  maximum  transparency 
in  the  selection  and  supervision  of  the 
leadership  of 
Information  Commissions 
through  bipartisan  legislative  roles  in  the 
recruitment  and  corporate 
leadership 
oversight mechanisms of such bodies.

iii.  Avoid wanton obstruction of information 
identification 
Personal 
seekers: 
requirements for information access should 
be  discouraged  or  at  most,  confined  to 
a  narrow  set  of  instances  such  as  non-
proxy  requests  for  personal  information. 
The  major  socio-political  controversies 
that 
and 

inefficiencies 

bureaucratic 

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STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023requirements 

generally  characterise  access  to  personal 
identification  documents  by  citizens  and 
legal  residents  of  developing  countries 
underscore  their  obstructionist  tendencies 
as 
for  obtaining  public 
services.  Such  hindrances  are  grievous 
and  unconscionable  when  they  impede 
the exercise of a fundamental human right 
like  the  right  of  access  to  information. 
requirements 
Personal 
for  access  to  information  in  developing 
countries  are  not  only  questionable  from 
a practical viewpoint, but are also logically 
dubious, considering the right of access to 
information is a critical precondition for the 
exercise of many other fundamental human 
rights. Requests for information should also 
be shorn of any charges.

identification 

iv.  Go  digital:  Public  bureaucracies 

countries  must 

the  public.  Lead 

in 
developing 
urgently 
digitalize  information  production,  storage 
and  transmission  processes  to  enhance 
their preservation, security, and accessibility 
by 
implementation 
organisations  of  Access  To  Information 
policies  must  also  spearhead  efforts  to 
expedite the development of well-curated 
digital  platforms  like  websites  and  apps 
for  the  submission  and  processing  of 
information requests (including the making 
of  remote  payments)  and 
live  public 
monitoring  of  same.  This  would  entice 
digital  savvy  youth  and  cultivate  critical 
masses of ATI policy patrons in developing 
countries.

v.  Consolidate 

ATI 

policy 
funding: 
implementation  bodies 
in  developing 
countries  must  explore  innovative  ways 
of  resource  mobilisation  to  curb  their 
overreliance  on  national  budgets,  fines 
and  charitable  offerings  (as  in  the  case  of 
Ghana).  To  complement  their  traditional 
funding with a more reliable income stream, 
information  reproduction 
fees  can  be 
nationally harmonised and shared between 
public  agencies  and  key  policy  oversight 
Information 
bodies 
Commission  (Ghana),  Central  Information 
Commission  (India)  and  the  Information 

like  the  Right  To 

Regulator  (South  Africa).  This  could  be 
practically  facilitated  by  digital  national 
platforms  such  as  websites  and  apps 
through which information requests can be 
received  and  processed,  and  applicable 
fees paid remotely.

4.  CROSS-COUNTRY  ACESS  TO 
INFORMATION (ATI) POLICY REGIME 
DASHBOARD

i.  Constitutional  guarantee  of  the  Right 
to  Information:  The  right  of  access  to 
(information  being  broadly 
information 
recorded  material 
conceived  as  any 
regardless  of 
is  an  expressly 
guaranteed fundamental human right in the 
constitutions  of  Ghana  and  South  Africa, 
unlike the case of India. Such unambiguous 
constitutional backstops fortify the right and 
anchor legislations regulating its exercise.

form) 

the  desired 

ii.  Manner  of  access:  Formal  requests  for 
from  bodies  covered  by 
information 
the  ATI  laws  of  Ghana,  India  and  South 
Africa  must  be  submitted  to  the  relevant 
organisations, 
containing  descriptions 
information,  preferred 
of 
forms  of  access  and  contact  particulars 
of  information  seekers.  Officers  must  be 
designated by statute in all jurisdictions, to 
work on such requests. Reasonable support 
is available in all jurisdictions to information 
seekers incapable of making written formal 
requests.  Information  seekers  may  not 
provide  any  reason  for  original  requests. 
Justifications  are  however  required 
in 
Ghana for requests for exempt information, 
and/or  an  urgent  treatment  of  a  request. 
Identification documents are also required 
of  all 
in  Ghana. 
information 
Applicable 
requests  in  all  jurisdictions  but  Ghana, 
where  they  only  apply  to  information 
reproduction. Decision time on information 
requests range from 14-30 days across the 
three jurisdictions. Information may also be 
proactively disclosed by relevant bodies in 
all three countries while unsuccessful original 
requests for information may be appealed 
through  layered  appellate  mechanisms. 

information  seekers 
for 
fees  apply 

6

STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023Disappointingly  however,  strict  statutory 
timelines for adjudicating such appeals are 
absent in all three jurisdictions.

iii.  Exempt  and 

information: 
classified 
Some information is normally exempt from 
disclosure under the ATI statutes of Ghana, 
India and South Africa. Exempt information 
is ordinarily inaccessible information due to 
public safety and morality, national security, 
commercial  confidentiality,  and  privacy 
and copyright, concerns. Such information 
can  only  be  disclosed  on  grounds  of 
demonstrable  public  interest,  exposure  of 
legal violations and/or after stipulated time 
periods (in some cases in Ghana and India).

– 

function 

agencies 

concurrently  as 

iv.  Information  commissions:  Both  Ghana 
and  India  have  Information  Commissions 
which act as principal ATI law enforcement 
an 
and  policy-steering 
organisational  pillar  a  bit  distinct  from 
South Africa’s Information Regulator (which 
however  shares  some  of  its  functions). 
The  Commissions  must  be  autonomous 
and 
(cost-
effective)  appellate  outlets  for  disgruntled 
information  seekers,  and  the  bureaucratic 
nerve centres of ATI policy implementation. 
the  process 
The  monopolisation  of 
the 
of  appointing  and 
leadership  of  the  Commissions  in  Ghana 
and  India  respectively  by  the  executive 
branch  of  government,  the  ambiguity 
over the tenure of the Executive Secretary 
(principal  administrator)  of  the  Right  To 
Information (RTI) Commission of Ghana, and 
executive (ministerial) discretion over some 
conditions of service of some members of 
South  Africa’s  Information  Regulator,  are 
all  distressingly  fertile  sources  of  public 
scepticism.

remunerating 

v.  Policy monitoring and reporting: Both the 
RTI Commission of Ghana and all institutions 
covered  by  the  RTI  Act,  2019  of  Ghana, 
are  obliged  to  produce  annual  reports  on 
their  compliance  with  the  law.  The  former 
is  additionally  required  to  produce  a 
report  on  its  enforcement  activities  every 
three months – a duty gasping for greater 
focus.  The 
Information 
Indian  Central 
Commission  and  public  departments  are 

also obliged to produce annual reports on 
the enforcement of the RTI Act, 2005. South 
Africa’s Information Regulator and all public 
bodies under its ATI law are also required to 
generate annual reports on enforcement. In 
all  jurisdictions,  annual  reports  on  ATI  law 
enforcement  agencies  must  be  presented 
to the national legislature.

vi.  Commencement, 

applicability 

and 
overridng  provisions:  The  ATI  laws  of 
Ghana,  India  and  South  Africa,  all  feature 
provisions  that  subjugate  all  statutory 
provisions  on  information  disclosure  to 
themselves.  Aimed  at  simplifying  and 
accelerating the adjudication of information 
requests, that overriding provision has rather 
been a source of controversy in Ghana for 
prohibiting the suspected commoditization 
of  information  by  some  public  agencies. 
The ATI laws of the three jurisdictions also 
apply  to  any  information  regardless  of  its 
time  of  generation,  and  to  private  bodies 
in  varying  degrees  and  forms.  Only  India 
restricts  eligibility  for  making  information 
requests to its citizens. All three jurisdictions 
delayed  commencement  for  parts,  or  the 
entirety  of,  their  legislations  after  their 
enactment.

vii. Compliance 

and 

sanctions:  Non-
compliance  with  India’s  RTI  Act,  2005  by 
organisations  may  be  penalised  with  an 
order  to  compensate  affected  information 
Information  Officers 
seekers.  Derelict 
may  also  attract  fines  and  administrative 
discipline. 
In  Ghana,  non-compliance 
with  the  RTI  Act  2019  by  institutions  may 
also  attract  fines  while  negligence  by 
Information Officers and statutory appellate 
bodies  may  invite  punishment  such  as 
imprisonment.  Offences 
fines  and/or 
under  the  South  African  Promotion  of 
Access  To  Information  Act,  2000  may  also 
attract fines or imprisonment. The possible 
compensation of poorly served information 
seekers  in  India  is  a  laudable  remedy 
which  provides  strong  encouragement  to 
information  seekers  to  pursue  appeals. 
Ghana’s  tough  sanctions  are  also  strong 
deterrents  when  appropriately  imposed. 
Information  officers  in  all  three  countries 

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STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023enjoy some indemnities.

5. CONCLUSION

The exalted hopes that commonly greet the unveiling of ATI policies in developing countries 
highlight  their  popular  appreciation  as  critical  lynchpins  of  responsive  governance.  Access 
To  Information  (ATI)  policy  champions  in  the  developing  world  must  leverage  this  gravitas  to 
construct  vibrant  information  access  regimes  that  fulfil  mass  expectations.  This  brief  should 
modestly assist such efforts.

8

STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023REFERENCES:

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9

STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023The School of Transnational Governance (STG) delivers teaching 
and high-level training in the methods, knowledge, skills and prac-
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The School offers Executive Training Seminars for experienced pro-
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STG | Policy Papers Issue | 2023/25 | September 2023