In his State of the Nation speech, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama Feb. 21 made “Transparent and Accountable Governance” one of his four “vital pillars” and said he will implement a freedom of information law.
The law has been tied up in Parliament with very little progress in recent years. Campaigners this year have begun to renew their calls for passage of a bill, while also stressing that the pending version of the bill needs improvement.
Mahama made no promise to help get the bill passed. Rather, he said only, “ I will implement the Freedom of Information Act as soon as it is passed by Parliament.”
There are many other items on the transparency and accountability agenda, including to “develop mechanisms for promoting citizen-based monitoring and evaluation of public policies and programs, as well as providing feedback and suggestions on ways of improving the targeting of social and economic development programmes.”
He pledged, “Civil society will continue to have limitless space to participate in our governance system. It is healthy and allows growth of democratic governance.”
Better offices and computers for parliamentarians was promised as well as sustainable funding for Parliament, Independent Governance Institutions and other pro-democracy governance bodies.
Passage of a Broadcasting Bill is on the agenda, too, and “the newly established Media Development Fund aimed at improving capacity within the media will be operationalized this year,” the president said. “We shall also support the National Media Commission to enact the needed Regulations that will establish an organizational framework and standards to ensure balance, fairness, access, opportunity and objectivity in the media.”
Executive Director of Youth and Child’s Rights Development, Jonathan Osei-Wusu, recently urged campaigning for a law and changes in the current draft. He spoke during at a February forum sponsored by the Centre for Democratic Development and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), according to a media report.
Also in February, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Africa Regional Office called on the Parliamentary Joint Committee working to expedite action on the bill, according to another article.
One of the leading advocates for a FOI law, Nana Oye Lithur, has been nominated by President Mahama to be Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
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