By Toby McIntosh
Key leaders of the Ghana parliament are continuing to postpone holding consultations on a pending right to information bill.
Since at least late last year, the parliamentarians have said they want to conduct hearings around the country on the bill, which was referred to committee back in September. But no hearings have been held and planning for them appears to be in limbo, according to sources close to the talks.
Lack of funds was cited by parliamentarians as a reason for not holding consultations, but the World Bank has promised to support them.
Parliamentarians requested hundreds of thousands of dollars to conduct meetings in virtually all regions of Ghana, attended by many members of Parliament. Considering this to be well beyond customary practice, the Bank in early 2011 rejected this proposal and asked for a scaled-down plan, but did not receive one.
In a meeting in March in Ghana with leaders of the committees handling the bill, the World Bank pledged $50,000 for consultations, along with additional support to help parliamentarians learn from peers in other African countries about freedom of information laws.
Sources said that agreement was reached to hold the consultations during the Easter recess, with Parliament to provide a plan of action and a timetable.
But the Bank got no such proposal. The Easter recess began April 1 without consultations.
Advocates of the bill find the delay very disappointing. “I am afraid I cannot tell whether it is willful avoidance or incompetence,” one said.
Civil society supporters of the bill held several protests marches earlier in the year, but none recently. Less media attention is being paid to the bill, too, judging from internet searches and sources in Ghana.
Recent History Recapped
The prospects for the bill seemed positive back in September 2010, when it was referred to a joint parliamentary committee. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) At the time, Deputy Minister for Information Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the government was committed to doing everything possible to ensure the passage of the bill. Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu was quoted as saying that plans for passing a FOI bill were far advanced.
Around the same time, Kojo Asante of the Centre for Democratic Development said attempts were being made to provide resources for the joint parliamentary committee to undertake nationwide hearing to solicit inputs from the public.
In October, Liberia became the first West African country to adopt of FOI law. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
In December, Ghana’s National Media Commission called for approval of the Right to Information Bill, and also the Broadcasting Bill and the Defamation Bill. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Commission said the bill needed further revision and urged Parliament “to carry out the planned and necessary public consultations with the people on the contents of the Bill so that the Bill is enriched with public input and can be passed into law before the end of 2011, ahead of the 2012 general election.”
Also in December, a person following the bill in Ghana told FreedomInfo.org that the joint committee handling the bill was planning on conducting the nationwide consultations in mid-January.
By early in 2011, however, no consultations had been planned and advocates were getting frustrated.
On Jan. 19 more than 1,000 supporters of the Right to Information Coalition marched to the Parliament buildings. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
At Parliament House, it was reported, Majority Leader Alban Kingsley Bagbin “said that the House would place priority on the process to give it a critical consideration since, according to him, it is the surest way of combating corruption in the system,” according to one media report.
In late January came the first media reports that Ghana’s parliament was blaming financial constraints for lack of action on the consultations. The chairman of Parliament’s Communication Committee, Felix Twumasi-Appiah, was quoted in myjoyline.com as saying that parliament could not afford them. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
Officials, and media reports, did not indicate that the World Bank had offered to pay for the consultations.
Parliamentary leaders proposed to the Bank a plan for extensive hearings, well beyond the norm for Ghana, and with a price tag of several hundred thousands of dollars, sources told FreedomInfo.org. The Bank said the plan was too ambitious, but continued to promise financial support for a scaled-back plan.
Supporters held another rally in Accra in early February at which there were scuffles with police. “Parliament, why the delay?” read the headline on the press release from the Coalition for the Right to Information, led by the human rights campaigner Nana Oye Lithur.
Then the official reaction seemed to turn less supportive of RTI legislation. Majority Leader Cletus Avoka was not encouraging as he urged patience and told the picketers that parliament would not be “torpedoed” into passing a bill. Avoka would not give a time for consultations. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
By mid-February, RTI supporters and the World Bank were still waiting for a revised consultation plan. The Coalition and the Bank suggested holding four consultations, in Accra and in three regions of the country, to be attended primarily by parliamentarians from the two committees considering the bill.
Hon. Felix Twumasi Appiah is the chairman of the Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and Hon. Emmanuel K. Banduah is the chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Committee. Also involved in the discussions about arrangements for consultations is Ebenezer Djietror, the clerk to the Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
At a meeting in March between members of parliament and the World Bank, discussions were resumed about a consultations to be held during the Easter recess. The Bank pledged around $50,000, sources said.
Afterward, however, no timetable or plan was forthcoming from Parliament, sources close to the discussions said. The recess began without consultations. E-mails from FreedomInfo.org to the key parliamentarians asking for comment were not returned.
When Parliament comes back May 17 there will be an 11-week session, ending in August.
Improvements to Bill Urged
Supporters of the draft bill hope it can be improved during the legislative process. Among other things, the Coalition has asked for creation of an independent oversight body to enforce the RTI law and a reduction in the number of proposed exemptions.
According to a report by the Ghana News Agency, Coalition leader Nan Oye Lithur said that “numerous provisions in the bill had still not been reviewed to reflect international best practice standards.” Critics also are concerned about the possibility of high fees to requesters and the lack of coverage of private bodies.
The media commission also said the bill requires “further revision,” supporting the idea of an information commission. The commission urged Parliament “to look critically at the exemption clauses to ensure that all exemptions are reasonably necessary, that they are based on a harm’s test and are narrowly formulated to protect a legitimate public interest.”
Also, the timelines for disclosure of information should be shorter and fees should be “the barest minimum required for the reproduction of the information,” the media commission said.
“There is equally the need to extend the coverage of the law to private corporations that engage in the provision of public services or are funded by the public purse or whose activities directly impinge on the rights of individuals,” the commission said. Improvements in public record-keeping are urgently needed, the commission also said.
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