The Coalition on the Right to Information (RTI) Ghana, the Media Coalition on RTI and Occupy Ghana, want President Akufo-Addo to immediately give his assent to the RTI Bill to make it fully recognized as law.
This follows the passage into law, the age-old Bill by Parliament on Tuesday night.
The Bill that gives 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 for a democratic society” was passed following the completion of its consideration stage after several policy changes, amendments and months of rigorous debates on the Floor of the House.
In a statement, the group which has for the past year mounted pressure on the government to get the bill passed said the presidential assent should be expedited to ensure the implementation of the law by 2020.
“Now that the Bill has been passed, we expect that President Akufo-Addo will assent to it swiftly just as he promised in his last address to Parliament on the State of the Nation. We are hopeful that government will put in place all needed processes to ensure that the new law commences operation at the start of the next financial year, which is January 2020.”
The Coalition also congratulated Parliament for passing the Bill.
“We congratulate this 7th Parliament for completing the long awaited passage of this piece of legislation after 17 years of waiting. Particularly, we recognize the effort of the Chairman of Joint Committee of Communication and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the members of the Committees for their efforts during the legislative process. We acknowledge how this Parliament, has in less than one year, worked very hard to take the Bill through the various stages of the lawmaking process.”
Despite the praise, the Coalition is however shocked that, some of the final amendments that it recommended earlier were not considered but hoped these proposals will be looked at in the near future.
“Although we are disappointed that the House did not consider a few final amendments we proposed which goes to the heart of the Bill, especially the ‘timeframe for putting in place the necessary structure for effective implementation’, we call on all and sundry to support the smooth implementation of the law. We hope that some of these concerns will be addressed in the Regulations which will come later to operationalize the law. “
Cost of implementation
The implementation of the RTI in Ghana has been estimated to cost GHc 750 million over five years, according to a report by the Research Department of Parliament in 2017.
The breakdown of costs included funds for boards, administrative expenses, district administrative expenses, district office facilities and a head office.
For example, the administrative staff cost at the head office in the first year was marked at GHc 651,968.22.
For all the districts, the staff cost is pegged at GHc 91 million. These figures reduce year to year from 2018 to 2021.
RTI Bill
The RTI is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.
It was first drafted in 1999 under former President, Jerry John Rawlings.
Various advocacy groups emerged to press for the immediate passing of the bill into law in 2002 and reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in its 2008 and 2012 election manifestos promised to ensure the Bill was passed. In 2010, it was presented to Parliament for consideration.
Following the dissolution of the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic and the swearing-in of new Parliament in January 2017, the Bill had to be re-laid by the new government.
That was done and the Bill has been receiving attention by the house but not without pressure from CSOs to expedite action on it.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey | citinewsroom.com | Ghana |nlartelartey@gmail.com