Government Moves to Merge Access to Information and Data Protection Laws — Minister Bah

Information and Civic Education Minister Chernor Bah has announced plans to merge two key legal frameworks governing citizens’ rights to information and personal data protection into a single unified law.

The proposed reform seeks to combine the Right to Access Information, which allows citizens to request and obtain information from public institutions, with Data Protection laws that safeguard individuals’ personal and sensitive information.

Minister Bah described the initiative as part of a broader effort to modernize Sierra Leone’s legal system in response to the country’s growing digital transformation, where more services, including banking, communication, and government transactions, are increasingly conducted online.

He explained that the integration of the two laws is intended to strengthen transparency, enhance privacy protection, and improve accountability within public institutions.

According to him, the unified framework will make it easier for citizens to access government information while ensuring stricter safeguards on how personal data such as phone numbers, addresses, and identification details are collected, stored, and used.

“This is about creating a new social contract for the digital age,” Minister Bah noted, emphasizing that the reform is designed to balance openness in governance with stronger protection of citizens’ privacy.

He added that bringing the two legal regimes under one structure would eliminate duplication, reduce confusion, and provide clearer guidelines for both government institutions and the public.

The minister further stated that the proposed law would ensure greater accountability by making it easier to determine when information access rules are followed or breached, while also reinforcing protections against misuse of personal data.

The initiative is expected to form part of ongoing legal and policy reforms aimed at strengthening digital governance and improving public trust in state institutions.