Civil society continues protest over freedom of information at Office of the President

Jul 12, 2025 Peeping Tom

Journalist Miranda La Rose and head of the Guyana Human Rights Association, Mr. Mike McCormack were part of the protest on Friday.

Kaieteur News – A number of civil society advocates and citizens on Friday continued protest action in front the office of the president over the implementation of Guyana’s Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

Kaieteur News had reported that having spent months exposing the inaction and obstruction by the office of the commissioner of information, organisers of the protest stated that they would continue their call in a peaceful demonstration directly to the office of the president, which under the Act, is the constitutional authority responsible for ensuring that the public’s right to know is protected.

Some of the persons who joined Friday’s protest noted the importance of having access to information, as it is crucial to know what is taking place in the country and the decisions policy leaders are making.

Addressing the media, head of the Guyana Human Rights Association, Mr. Mike McCormack noted that freedom of information is the essential protection to human rights. “If we don’t know what is taking place, we don’t understand why certain decisions are taken there is no way we can enforce them,” he explained.

Long serving journalist, Miranda La Rose noted that as a journalist access to information is very important in their work, especially when it comes to investigative journalism.

Noting the developments taking place in the country, she said citizens have a right to access information to know what is going on. “The Freedom of Information Act is not only important to the media, it is very important to the civil society as well, (and) ordinary citizens. We need to know what is going on, we are developing, there are so many things, we have a lot of money, we need to know where these monies are going,” she said.

Also present at the protest was popular columnist, GHK Lall who expressed that “when we are locked out of access to information that is permitted by law then we fall very far.”

Calling for accountability, Lall stated the position for commissioner of information was appointed by the president, and therefore the current President Irfaan Ali has the responsibility to ensure these persons commit to their duties.

Kaieteur News reported that the protest at the president’s office began on July 4, which was led by chartered accountant and attorney Christopher Ram.

Ram told Kaieteur News that he had written the head-of-state asking him to meet with a small group of civil society members to discuss their concerns. However, according to Ram, the president has not had the ‘decency to acknowledge the request.

“And he has forced us into this position, I don’t know what the president has to hide or if he sees this as some manly thing to do to deny people the constitutional right to access information, it is insulting, it is disrespectful and he is violating his constitutional oath,” he lamented.

Ram has been leading protests against the commissioner of information since early April, demanding that Access to Information Act, 2011 be “operationalised as it should be” and for the legislation to be subject to review and amendment, after more than a decade.

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civil society, Guyana Human Rights Association, Guyana’s Freedom of Information, Miranda La Rose, Mr. Mike McCormack

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