Linda Ofori-Kwafo
Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has praised the current Akufo-Addo administration for showing commitment to the passage of the Right To Information (RTI) Bill into law.
She, however, indicated that the RTI Action Campaign Group and other civil society organizations would not relent until the bill is finally passed into law.
She said the RTI Bill was first laid in Parliament about 17 years ago.
Ms Ofori-Kwafo, therefore, called on media practitioners to use their platforms to help The Right to Information (RTI) Action Campaign Group to educate the public on the RTI Bill.
The executive director made the call at a day’s training programme on the RTI Bill for more than 50 journalists in the Western Region.
The programme was organized by GII in collaboration with the RTI Action Campaign and RTI Coalition under the auspices of Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems Strengthening (ADISS) project.
The programme, which would be held nationwide, is also to ensure that civil society organizations stay abreast with the content of the RTI Bill.
The Executive Director of GII called for the immediate passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill as promised by President Akufo-Addo.
Touching on the clauses in the RTI Bill, Seth Abloso, Chairperson of RTI Coalition, explained that the cost of seeking information should not be high to deter people from accessing information.
“The cost should only be for reproduction, translation and transcription,” he added.
Mr. Abloso indicated that the information should be accessed within a reasonable time and added that all exempt information should be subjected to the Harm Test.
He noted, “The Harm Test Principle states that information should be disclosed if the benefit of disclosure outweighs the harm that the disclosure will cause.”
According to Mr Abloso, all requestors have the right to appeal the decision of any public institution that would deny them access to information.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi