Ghana’s new president has pledged that the Right to Information Bill will become law.
The promise of President John Dramani Mahama came as a new report documented the difficulty of obtaining government information and as the bill’s supporters continued to campaign for its passage. Events and marches were held in cities around the country on Right to Know Day, Sept. 28.
Unclear is whether the president’s support, given in the context the launch of his party’s manifesto, will have an effect on members of his own party in Parliament who have delayed consideration of the bill.
Parliamentary leaders last year delayed holding promised public consultations and have yet to produce a report on the consultations that were eventually held last summer. (See previous FreedomInfo.org reports: deadline missed in July; and a February overview article.)
As the signs at the marches attest, pro-RTI activists are stressing that the current proposal is too weak and needs amending.
President’s Pledge
Mahama said Oct. 4 he will see to it that the Right to Information Bill becomes law. He spoke to supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Oct. 4. One of four themes of the Better Ghana Agenda is titled “Investing In People, Transparent And Accountable Governance, Building A Strong and Resilient Economy and an Accelerated Development Of Infrastructure.” He also said he plans to crack down on corruption. Mahama became president this year following the death of President John Evans Atta Mills, who had made RTI passage a campaign pledge, but subsequently said little about it.
President Mahama also called on other politicians and activists to avoid falsehoods about him, according to a Peace FM Online report on the event held in Ho.
Report Cites Access Issues
The underlying issue of an opaque government was highlighted in a recent report described in an article published by GBC Ghana.
The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, in partnership with IDASA, a South Africa-based NGO, used test requests to evaluate problems in accessing information through a study of 18 institutions.
“The overall outcome of the study revealed that Ghana is not doing very well when it comes to the willingness of public institutions to offer needed information to the public,” the article reported. “There was a score of 35% in the category where information was actually provided. Apart from the judiciary, which recorded a 100%, all other institutions scored below 50%.”
The article by Manasseh Azure Awuni continued:
In Ghana, however, information still remains a luxury to those who need it. Most ministries, departments and agencies do not have websites in this internet age. As for those with the website, there is very little or no relevant information on the sites. Some ministries, departments and agencies still have piles of files and papers making it almost impossible to retrieve relevant information. Some of the officials who give out information tend to see it as a favour and not as the right of the recipient as stipulated by the 1992 Constitution. It is for this reason, that individuals and civil society must intensify the call for the passage of the Right to Information Bill into Law.
RTI Coalition Presses Case
Representatives of the Coalition on Right to Information have urged action on the bill in many speeches over the past few weeks and supporters took to the streets.
During a Right to Know Day event Sept. 28 in Accra, coalition leader Nana Oye Lithur noted that very soon Parliament would be dissolved and the bill might not be passed. Without the RTI law, she noted, information on health, education, water, electricity will be lacking, according to an article by the Public Agenda group.
Coalition members distributed leaflets as they held a march through Accra and carried signs. The placards, reported Laud Nartey said:”Amend and Pass the Right to Information bill now”; “Information is power, give power to the people”; “RTI is key for accountable governance and transparent government”; “Ghanaians were promised an RTI law”; “Joint Committee, is two years not enough to pass the bill into law”; and “Amend the RTI bill now”.
The coalition is also urging changes to the draft law. Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress, was quoted as saying that “we shall resist any attempt to pass into law the current Right to Information Bill without the necessary amendments proposed by the people of Ghana during the nation-wide consultations by the Parliamentary Joint Committee.”
Asamoah added:
This requires, inter alia, that provision is made for an independent information Commission, that the timelines for disclosure of information are radically reduced; that all exemption clauses are subjected to the harm or public interest test and that certain categories of private bodies that engage in hitherto social or public functions, exploit the country’s natural resources’ or are contracted and paid by the state to undertake certain functions are brought under the preview of the law.
Edmund Quaynor, the coalition’s eastern region coordinator, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the RTI would facilitate commitment to participatory democracy since the law would give every Ghanaian the right to seek information on national development. “Mr Quaynor said access to information is a prerequisite in the fight against corruption,” the article said, continuing, “He said the coalition had raised a number of concerns including the payment of fees in accessing information while the Attorney-Generals’ Department is the supervisory body in the bill and asked parliament to rectify the anomalies. Coalition members held a procession through the principal streets of Koforidua.
Caroline Nalule, regional coordinator for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, at another event urged more education of Ghanians on the right to information.
Kofi Tenasu Gbedemah, Volta Regional Focal Leader of the Coalition on the Right to Information Bill, on Friday “said inaction by government was partly responsible for the rather slow process of the Bill being passed into law,” according to an article about a March in Ho Sept. 28.
“Mr Gbedemah expressed the hope that the over six years battle to get the Bill passed could end by December with the passage of the law,” the Ghana News Agency article said.
The coalition’s northern region chapter held an even in Tamale called on the joint committee to publish its report on the consultations held last year. Members of the coalition visited “media houses” and educational institutions to build support for the bill.
Alhaji Abdul Razak Saanji, chairman of the coalition’s northern chapter, said media houses and the general publis should be concerned about the delay since its passage would enhance their work ensure effective demoractive governance.
Theresa Adjei-Mensah, Vice-Chairperson of Brong-Ahafo Network of Non-Governmental Organisations (BANGOs), on Oct. 4 called on Parliament to speed up with the passage of the bill. She spoke at the launch in Techiman of a campaign with the theme: “Our Rights to Know – An Effective Right to Information Law or None.” A Ghana News Agency report said:
“The launch was attended by more than 1,000 hairdressers, tailors and other youth organisations, who carried placards some of which read “Crucify corruption by passing Right to Information Bill”, “Information denied threatens our democracy”, “Ghanaians have the right to Know”, “Right to Information would enhance Rule of Law”, “Where is the Information Bill?”
The Ghana election will be held Dec. 7. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, 2012 presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Partyin an Oct. 3 speech said:
My Government will pass the Right to Information Bill into law. We will strengthen the access to information in every Ministry, Department and Agency. We will also improve the archival management, including record keeping and information retrieval systems in the public sector, to facilitate the effective implementation and utilisation of the Right to Information Bill when it becomes law. We know that transparency protects officials and the public in dealing with the public purse. The public have the right to know what politicians and public officials do in their name.
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