The parliament in Ghana has postponed consideration of a Right to Information bill to allow for consultations on its content, but Deputy Attorney General Dominic Ayine said a bill will pass before July, according to Ghana News and CitiNews.
Members reportedly disagreed over exemptions for the Office of the President, his Vice President, Cabinet records and other sensitive documents, Ghana News reported May 20.
Looking ahead Ayine said, “The bill has gone through so many sections of parliament and now we are determined as a house to enact the bill.”
He continued, “Hopefully, we will pass it before the rise of parliament in July. As the sponsoring ministry, my Minister has also made it clear to me that she wants the bill passed. So the determination is for us to pass the bill before we rise.”
Parliament in May began consideration of the long-delayed bill that transparency activists say should be stronger. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Amendments to the first clauses of the bill were made on May 18, according to the of the session (the most recent one available) and further changes were made May 20 (according to “Votes and Proceedings” – summaries of the sessions showing amendments made) bringing the Parliament to clause 10. Dozens of amendments have been proposed.
The Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Kofi Amoatey, refuted claims that Parliament is frustrating the timely passage of the RTI Bill. He was quoted as saying: “The information that is put on this bill from the media gives the impression that politicians are afraid to pass this bill because when it is passed, it will expose politicians; that is wrong. It is a very wrong impression being created about the bill.”
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