Modern Ghana: Ghana: Friday, February 09, 2018.
A Deputy
Minister for Information, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Agyei, has noted that the delay in
passing the Right to Information Bill, is largely because other equally
important Bills are also fighting for attention.
She thus
explained that, the delay does not mean the Bill is not a priority, and that
other bills from different sectors have also been on the table, and must be
attended to.
She said
“Bills like this, you don't work on it yourself (as a Ministry); it is the
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General which usually works on our bills, so
it is more of the survival of the fittest”.
The Deputy
Minister made the observations in her interaction with the media at Cape Coast
on Tuesday, as part of the Ministry's national tour across the regions to
interact with the media.
Madam Ama
Dokuaa was however quick to add that, there is the need for the bill to be
passed because “access to the information will cure what we see today as fake
news everywhere”.
The RTI, when
passed, will give flesh to Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution which
stipulates that, “All persons shall have the right to information subject to
such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society”.
Again, the
bill is to ease access to official information in the bosom of both public and
private bodies performing functions that are funded by the taxpayer.
The Bill was
drafted in 1999 and reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007, but was not presented to
Parliament until 2010.
Getting to
the latter part of the Mahama administration, there was a strong indication the
Bill would be passed into law, but it was rather withdrawn in October 2016 for
another review.
The
Akufo-Addo government which firmly promised to pass it while campaigning in
opposition prior to the 2016 elections, has recently come under much pressure
to fulfill that promise.
Though
various assurances have been given by the current administration on the passage
of the RTI, the Deputy Information Minister stated that the Bill is a priority
to the President, saying, “It is his (the President's) baby”.
She was
hopeful the bill will be passed into law by the end of 2018.
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