Minister of Information and Civic Education Hon Chernor Bah has made a firm commitment to push through the repeal of the Archives and Records Management Act 1965, and the enactment of the Archives and Records Bill of 2017, which was reviewed and validated by the RAIC and other stakeholders in 2021 within the first six months of his tenure.
Minister Bah said this in his keynote speech at the day workshop on the Codes of Practice for Records Management held at the Family Kingdom Resort on Tuesday 24th October, 2023.
The Minister expressed delight on the progress the commission is making and used the occasion to congratulate the chairman and Information Commissioner of RAIC, Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw on his reappointment by H.E the President. He said to change the nature on how we communicate with the public, and to enhance the Country’s status as a beacon for Human Rights, Free press and the Right to Access Information, Records management in public Institutions should be our priority as a country. “This should be an imperative as it’s a tool to limit and prevent corruption. I commit to this gathering as a minister within the first six months under my tenure to finalize and adopt policy on how the government of Sierra Leone manage all our public records and the repeal of the old public Archives law; we are going to transform from an over reliance on paper to digital, we can positively leapfrog on that.”
The Chairman and Information Commissioner of the Right to Access Information Commission, Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, in his welcome address earlier described the capacity building workshop as part of RAIC’s full blown effort to build the capacity of MDAs and Public Records managers across the Country with the objective of promoting records management and documentation compliance to promote the supply and demand of information which is an enabling environment for easy information accessibility. “The records code of practice training manual is a set of written instructions that explain how records should be used, maintained and disposed of; the RAI Law provides in section 27(1) for every public authority to maintain records of its activities in a manner that facilitates the Right to Information, and that all public authorities are obliged to have a records management unit or department with professional record officers and managers”, said Dr Shaw.
The RAIC chairman concluded by using the occasion to express appreciation to Mr. Munir Kawa and Mr. Albert Moore for their review of the 2017 Archive and Records Management Bill and also to UNESCO and the Government of Sierra Leone for providing the funding.
In his statement, assistant auditor general, Mr. Morie Lansana, who deputized the auditor-general who was unavoidably absent, described Records as the primary bridge between Audit Service and MDAs as his Institution is charged with the responsibility to audit public Books, Records and other documents as specified in the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone. He concluded by calling on all MDAs to allocate public funds to manage, provide and maintain records as it promotes accountability and transparency in public Institution. He said “that small record kept today may be your greatest savior Tomorrow”
Professor John Abu Kargbo, Deen, Faculty of communications, Media and Information Studies at the University of Sierra Leone thanked the Commission for this laudable effort as people are beginning to take cognizance of the importance of proper records keeping in Sierra Leone. According to Professor Kargbo, records and information are the instrument by which government can promote a climate of transparency.
Others who made statements at the opening ceremony of the workshop were Public Service Commission Chairman and Commissioner Mr K O Bah, the Executive Director, Society for knowledge Management, Records Management expert Mr Muniru Kawa, and Mr I S Kamara who deputized for the DG of Human Resource Management Office
SIGNED ………………………………..
Alhaji Bakarr Kanu, Public Information Officer, RAIC.
