KABUL (SW): According to officials at the Oversight Commission on Access to Information, despite their efforts to raise public awareness about the Access to Information Law (AIL), more than half of the citizens of the country are unaware of the Law.
According to them, findings by the Commission indicate that 45 percent of citizens of the country are aware of the Access to Information Law, out of which 75 percent of these people are those who are familiar with the provisions of the law through the media.
Sayed Ikram Afzali, the chairman of Oversight Commission on Access to Information and the director of Integrity Watch Afghanistan, on the occasion of celebrating the International Right to Know Day here in Kabul on Tuesday, stated that out of 27 government institutions which were reviewed by the Commission, The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Public Health have topped the access to information chart.
According to him, the Administrative Affairs Office of the President, Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education are ranked the lowest in providing information to the public and media.
“The average response rate to applicants for access to information in all major government agencies was only 31 percent”, informed Afzali.
The officials of the Commission told the presser that still many people are not well aware of the mechanism and method of accessing information.
But, Abdul Fatah Ishrat Ahmadzai, the spokesman for the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs, and Disabled, talking to Salam Watandar rejecting the findings of the Oversight Commission on Access to Information said that the Ministry has always cooperated with media and people on providing information.
It is worth mentioning that 3 years ago the Access to Information Law was passed in 6 chapters and 32 articles with a majority of votes in the parliament, but the complaints of journalists are on the rise on the implementation of the Law.
ENDS
