The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa(CHRDA) on Thursday 12^th June 2025, organized a workshop on Access to Information at Presflat, Buea Town with over 50 youth as participants. This is in line with the organization’s project “Promoting Access to Information and Transparency in Governance” funded by the Commonwealth Foundation aimed at strengthening capacities of critical stakeholders in advocacy for the access to information act. This session was packed with presentations, discussions as well as questions and answers to ensure participants gained a better understanding on Access to information. The workshop delved in to key areas like, the historical background of access to information, its evolution and importance in modern society, definition of access to information, countries advocating for access to information, ways to access information, importance, and possible hindrances to access to information.

 Citizens have the right to seek, receive, and impart information held by public bodies. This Information can be gotten from books, encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, databases, internet and what have you. It is the right of the public to have access to information of public interest from a variety of sources and the media’s right to access information. This plays a crucial role in promoting transparency, accountability, democracy and good governance. It also enriches the decision making power of citizens and facilitates the work of journalists.

 There are about 137 countries that have access to information laws. Cameroon is however not among which brings about issues of transparency, accountability and openness. The lack of information sourcing skills that is; having knowledge on where and how to get the right information on a particular issue, administrative bottlenecks, personal biases were highlighted as some of the hindrances of access to information. To add a touch of creativity and engagement to the workshop, the event featured entertaining performances from a talented singer Nina Nwaseri, who captivated the audience with her soulful voice. comedians Boy Judge and Laugh Apostle brought joy and laughter to participants. Through humorous examples, they passed on messages having access to information in mind at the same time kept participants entertained.

  The workshop was a great success.  This is because, it did not only provide participants with valuable insights on the importance of access to information but also served as platform for networking, discussion and advocacy.  The event underscores CHRDA’s commitment to promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular. It also brought to light the need for the harmonization of information while encouraging citizens to be responsible in their pursuit for information. Information is power and access to information will pave a way for a democratic society.