Mustapha Hamid, Information Minister
THE RIGHT To Information (RTI) Coalition and the RTI Action Campaign Group – made up of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, OccupyGhana, and the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) among others – have commended the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for its efforts in having the two decades’ old RTI Bill laid before parliament.
“The RTI Coalition and the RTI Action Campaign Group welcome the important step taken by the Executive to table the RTI Bill in parliament at the last sitting of the House, which ended on Friday, March 23rd, 2018,” according to the coalition. The bill, presented to parliament following its approval by Cabinet, was in fulfillment of the promise made to Ghanaians by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that it would be laid and passed before parliament rises in March this year. Following this promise, the RTI Coalition and the RTI Campaign Action Group initiated a coordinated campaign for the speedy passage of the bill and activated a 10-day countdown for the government to table it before parliament rose on Friday, 23rd March, 2018, the statement, jointly signed by the various representatives of bodies making up the coalition and the Action Campaign Group, pointed out. It said, “The action taken by H.E. the President to present the Bill to Parliament is a signal that the President is committed to the passage of the RTI Bill,”
According to the statement, “We however, note that the Bill has gone through similar processes in 2010, 2013 and 2016 without being passed by successive Parliaments. “We take note that the Bill has been referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Communications Committee of Parliament, which has to decide whether or not the Bill will be considered under a certificate of urgency.”
Meanwhile, GJA in a separate statement signed by its president, Affail Monney, expressed, “While stressing the need for the RTI Bill to be passed promptly, the GJA also wishes to draw the Executive and Legislature’s attention to the Broadcast Bill, which has also suffered a similar fate as the RTI Bill for many years.”
BY Melvin Tarlue