Prof Mike Oquaye – Speaker of Parliament
AFTER TWO decades of delays, Parliament is set to finally pass the Right To Information (RTI) bill into law this week.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah made the announcement on Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Accra during the Information Ministry’s biweekly press briefings.
The first RTI bill was drafted by the executive arm of Government in 2002.
The draft executive bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
After the review, it was never laid before parliament until February 5, 2010.
On Friday, March 22, 2019, the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye halted the third reading of the RTI Bill.
The third reading of the RTI Bill had been advertised on the Order Paper for that day’s business of the House, but the speaker asked that it should be deferred since there had been further proposals and amendments by some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to certain aspects of the bill, which when passed, will not serve the best interest of the ordinary Ghanaians.
The object of the RTI Bill is to provide for the operationalisation of the constitutional right to information held by public and some private institutions, subject to exemptions that are necessary and consistent with the protection of public interest in a democratic society.
The Bill also seeks to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and provide for related matters.
According to Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, “the 7th Parliament of the 4th republic has in good time completed the consideration stage of the RTI bill after several policy changes and amendments and months of rigorous debates on the floor of the house.”
He said “even currently there are further new petitions asking for further amendments to provisions of the bill.”
The Minister added that “however Parliament is minded to pass the bill into law this week, and send it for Presidential assent soon thereafter.”
The bill in its current form, he said, requires the establishment of Information Units in all public offices, recruitment and training of information officers to man these units, establishment of the RTI commission and the completion of various administrative protocols before the commencement of the next fiscal year.
These, according to the Minister, “are necessary to ensure that there will indeed be the infrastructure that can deliver on the RTI requests filed under this new law.”
In his opinion, the new law will be a major addition to the credential of Ghana as a strong democracy and President Akufo-Addo who for many years has championed the cause of enhancing the frontiers of human rights.
BY Melvin Tarlue