Politicians fear passage of RTI Bill - Chief

Pulse.com: Ghana: Friday, August 03, 2018.

The delays in the passage of the Right To Information Bill (RTI) could be the politicisation and the fear of politicians to be held accountable by the masses, who stand to be empowered by the Bill when passed into law, a traditional ruler has said.

Nana Kwabena Amponsah I, Kontihene of Obenimasi in the Asante Akim Central Municipality said the cause of the continued delay in the passage of the Bill by Parliament, was the Bill's inherent potential to enlighten and empower the Ghanaian citizenry to seek answers and probe the activities of politicians at all levels of governance, saying this was causing some trepidation among the political class.

He said it was time politicians opened up and ensured transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.

He insisted that the passage of the bill would not only make it easy for the public to seek critical information on various issues affecting them, but would also help them to participate and actively contribute to national development.

He made this known when he spoke at a forum on the RTI Bill at Konongo in the Asante-Akim Central Municipality organised by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) in collaboration with Abak Foundation, under the Accountable Democratic Institutions Systems Strengthening (ADISS) Project.

The right to information is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights. The bill will give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that "All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society".

It was first drafted 22 years ago under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA.

The draft Executive Bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was never laid in Parliament until February 5, 2010.

It was subsequently withdrawn to review some clauses.

Since then, efforts by several advocacy groups to put pressure on the duty bearers to have the Bill passed have also not yielded any positive results until now.

Observers have criticized successive governments for lacking the political will to pass the Bill.