Regional transparency organisations support Guyana's access to information campaign

Regional transparency organisations support Guyana’s access to information campaign

Aug 27, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – Leading transparency organisations in the Caribbean have offered strong support for Guyana’s civil society’s Access to Information campaign, with the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) and Jamaica’s National Integrity Action (NIA) commending “the sustained, principled, and peaceful actions undertaken by journalists, civil society actors, members of parliament, trade unions, and concerned citizens in Guyana, who have collectively brought to light systemic non-compliance by the [Guyana] Office of the Commissioner of Information.”

The transparency international chapters expressed “grave concern” about the failure of the executive to engage meaningfully with civil society on this constitutional matter.

The organisations noted “with particular concern the documented absence of public reporting, operational transparency, and meaningful responsiveness by the Commissioner’s Office,” stating these deficiencies “contravene the letter and spirit of the Access to Information Act but also undermine the rule of law and citizens’ confidence in public institutions.”

Guyana’s campaign coordinator, Christopher Ram said the organisations shared their “grave concern over the failure of the office of the president to acknowledge formal communication from civil society actors – despite repeated outreach and well-substantiated documentation, signals a worrying erosion of participatory governance and civic engagement.”

Ram has welcomed the support. “This validates what we’ve been saying – the government is failing in its constitutional and statutory obligations. When regional transparency experts note that our situation undermines ‘the rule of law and citizens’ confidence,’ that should be a wake-up call.”

The organisations described the situation as “a profound test – not only of Guyana’s commitment to constitutional governance, but of the region’s collective resolve to defend democratic rights in the face of institutional opacity.”

The regional organisations pledged to “fully support” judicial remedies and international accountability mechanisms, “urge the government of Guyana to respond to the concerns raised immediately,” and called on CARICOM and regional institutions to monitor the situation.

This backing strengthens the local campaign’s documentation that despite government claims to the UN Human Rights Committee that the Act “continues to be utilised by the public,” the reality is complete dysfunction. The UN Committee itself recommended in May 2024 that Guyana “ensure that the right of access to information can be effectively exercised in practice.”

Reiterating the local group’s demands that the government immediately establish functional independence and capacity to the commissioner’s office, Ram pledged that there will be no let up until citizens’ rights are respected, requests for information are processed in a timely manner and the government engages civil society on improving the legislation.

Civil society has been up in arms against government and the commissioner of information, Justice (ret’d) Charles Ramson snr., who has been preventing the release of critical information to members of the public.

Since March of this year, chartered accountant and attorney, Christopher Ram, along with civil society and even journalists have been protesting against the reluctance of Ramson to release key information on several matters, including documents that can provide some clarity to the signing of the lopsided 2016 oil deal with ExxonMobil Guyana for the lucrative Stabroek oil block. At a recent protest, Ram had noted the information is not critical for transparency only, but could help shape policies for Guyana that can benefit the citizens. The protesters had started their demonstration outside of Ramson’s office but later moved to the Office of President. The protestors argued that the president has the power to not only release the information they are seeking but also take action against Ramson since he is collecting a salary for doing nothing. To date, the government is yet to release the information or take any action.

The government has promised to address the issue after the elections. Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo said that there will be some improvements to the Act once the administration retains government.

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Regional transparency organisations support Guyana’s access to information campaign

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