The Vice President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, on Oct. 12 urged Parliament to pass a right to information bill, according to a report in Modern Ghana.
“He said Cabinet had already approved the bill, and that there was the need for Parliament to pass it into law to support efforts at fighting corruption in the country,” according to the article about his remarks opening a three-day conference on “Integrity in Ghana” in Accra,.
Parliament this summer conducted consultations on the bill, but has yet to produce a promised report on them.
There continue to be signs of reluctance among parliamentarians. For example, one member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Information, Dan Kwaku Botwe, was quoted recently by the Ghana News Agency as saying that the coalition for the bill needs to allay public perceptions that the law would benefit only journalists and that the media would use the la to harass politicians.
Advocacy Continues
The Coalition on the Right to Information-Ghana recently produced a document called “Right to Information Bill-Frequently asked questions.”
Coalition speakers advocate for the bill in various forums. Francis Ameyibor, coalition project coordinator Sept. 30 said politicians should not be scared of the law during an appearance when he interacted with the Western Regional Information Services Department, according to a newspaper story.
A symposium was held on International Right to Know Day Sept. 28.
The event was colorfully described by Nana Kodjo Jehu-Appiah for the Ghana News Agency, who began: “It was all about buoyancy when human rights activists including journalists and civil society organisations, prompted government about the essence of the Right to Information Bill (RTI), to boost the national fervour to facilitate probity and accountability.”
He continued, “As the years roll by optimism is being downgraded into pessimism, and people who once believed that the passion for Government to improve on information flow to make probity and accountability possible are shaking their heads in disbelieve.”
He said activists at the event laid the blame for not passing the bill “at the footstep of politicians who lack the commitment and perhaps are entertaining some unreasonable phobia that the law would be used against them.” He added, “That is not all; there is also lack of effective pressure from the public and mass media on Parliament and the Executive to accelerate the process.”
He went on to describe arguments for the bill and proposals to improve it.
The Ghana Integrity Initiative Sept. 27 called the parliament to enact the RTI bill without any further delay. “Ghana must stand up to be counted among West Africa’s democracies that have a Freedom of Information Law,” it said.
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