UN rapporteur urges gov’t to pass RTI law

The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom and Opinion, David Kaye has said the time is ripe for Ghana to pass the Right to Information law.

He said his office is in support of the passage of the law because it is beneficial to the entire country.

He told Citi News at the just-ended 25th World Press Freedom Day celebration which was held in Accra that the RTI Bill is a good thing for Ghana but needs a few changes to be made to it.

“It is pretty clear that Ghanaian activists and access to information in the area of the media and media freedom really believe in the importance of having access to information in the area of the media freedom and believe in the importance of having access to law in Ghana, and I agree with them,” he said.

He stated that the passing of the Bill is long overdue and all that is required is for the government to push for it passage.

The delays in the passing of the Bill according to Deputy Minister for Information, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Agyei, is because other equally essential Bills need to be paid attention to first.

She thus explained that the delay does not mean the Bill is not a priority, but that other bills from different sectors have also been on the table, and must be attended to.

“Bills like this, you don’t work on it yourself (as a Ministry); it is the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General which usually works on our bills, so it is more of the survival of the fittest”.

22-year journey of Bill

The RTI Bill, which is expected to make information easily accessible by the media and Ghanaians to boost the fight against corruption, has been in legislation for well over 17 years because successive governments have failed to ensure its passage despite several assurances.

It was first drafted 22 years ago under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA.

The draft Executive Bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was never laid in Parliament until February 5, 2010.

It was subsequently withdrawn to review some clauses.

Since then, efforts by several advocacy groups to put pressure on the duty bearers to have the Bill passed have also not yielded any positive results until now.

Observers have criticized successive governments for lacking the political will to pass the Bill.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government promised to pass the Bill when it assumed power in 2017.

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By: Farida Yusif/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

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