ISLAMABAD: Twelve years after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became Pakistan’s first province to enact a Right to Information (RTI) law, the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) notes the pioneering framework remains “underutilised and vulnerable to disinformation due to weak enforcement and structural gaps”.

In a policy brief released on Saturday “From Pio­neer to Performer: Mak­­ing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Ri­g­­­­­­ht to Information Act Work Against Disinforma­tion”, Fafen urged the KP Assembly and gov­­­­ernment to launch targeted legal and institutional reforms to transform the framework in­­­­­to an effective mechanism for proactive disclosure and public accountability.

Fafen’s assessment of 190 provincial public bodies’ websites found a stark implementation gap: on average, public bodies proactively disclosed only 57 per cent of the information the law requires them to publish.

In its policy brief, Fafen identified three main legal flaws and two institutional gaps holding back the Act. It noted that the definition of “public body” was excluded many private entities and NGOs that receive public funds, subsidies, tax concessions or government contracts.

Fafen recommended widening the “public body” definition to cover all private/NGOs receiving public money directly or indirectly. “Citizens should have the right to inspect works and documents, obtain certified copies, and receive information electronically,” it maintained.

It suggested an audit of the annual accounts by the Auditor General of Pakistan and tabling the same before the KP Assembly and Public Accounts Committee.

Also, it called for the introduction of digital tracking of RTI requests with email/SMS notifications at each stage of processing. It also stressed the need to develop an RTI mobile app and allow virtual hearings to reduce access barriers for citizens in remote districts, and mandatory, tailored disclosure formats for different categories of public bodies.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2026