Last amendment to the problem of the RTI – Coalition bill

Ghana's Coalition for the Right to Information (RTI), the RTI Media Coalition and Occupy Ghana; collectively known as the Coalition to have concerns about the new amendment to the bill.

Last week, Parliament approved an amendment to the RTI bill to extend the effective date of the bill after its pbadage.

The amendment states that the bill is to come into force during the next year following its approval by Parliament and the approval of its president.

But according to the group that wants the RTI to be adopted as quickly as possible, the last amendment is "problematic and likely to cause unnecessary delays in the implementation of the constitutional law in arrears for 25 years".

"Ghana's Coalition for the Right to Information (RTI), the Media Coalition on RTI and OccupyGhana (the entire Coalition) took note of Parliament's decision to accept a new initiation clause that will technically activate the implementation of the planned ITR Act. 2019 in January 2020. Similar to our position on a proposal from m Frederick Opare Ansah, Honorable Member for Suhum, we consider that the current amendment to the RTI Bill is likely to cause unnecessary delays in the implementation of the constitutional law that has been outstanding for 25 years. "

Coalition recommendations on the amendment

The Coalition argued that instead of extending the date of creation of the infrastructure and the various offices charged with implementing the bill, [supplementary] budget can [instead] be modified to provide for unforeseen expenses. The Ministry of Finance can use transfers to reallocate funds and make proposals for approval in a supplementary budget in mid-year. "

"Secondly, we are concerned that the bill has not proposed a specific timetable for what will be done between the period during which it is sanctioned by the president and the beginning of the next fiscal year. Having a clear transition schedule or two provisions in the law was the path taken by the countries of the world cited by m Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in his speech on the floor of House took, "added the statement.

The comings and goings

The Right to Information Bill was drafted for the first time in 1999 under former President Jerry John Rawlings.

Various lobby groups were formed to pbad this bill immediately in 2002 and were reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

In its electoral manifestos of 2008 and 2012, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised to ensure that the bill was pbaded. In 2010, it was presented to Parliament for consideration.

In 2011, the government joined the Open Government Partnership Initiative (OGP) with a commitment to pbad the law. In November 2013, the bill was officially tabled in parliament.

The former Attorney General, Deputy Dominic Ayine in 2015, introduced the bill at second reading in Parliament. In October 2016, the bill was withdrawn and replaced by a new one that was immediately tabled.

Following the dissolution of the sixth legislature of the fourth republic and the inauguration of the new parliament in January 2017, the new government had to introduce the bill before the work began.

A group of press reporters lobbied Parliament before the suspension of the pbadage of the bill.

BoG calls for RTI to be considered to protect "sensitive" data – Inusah Fuseini

Inusah Fuseini, a prominent member of the Parliament's Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, had previously said that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) wanted the right to information bill to be further amended. released.

He added that the Bank of Ghana (BG) had asked Parliament to consider an amendment to the RTI bill that would limit the flow of critical financial information to the public.

"The central bank was proposing an amendment and the amendment provided that information that could reasonably affect the stability of the financial system (…) should not be provided, as this could harm the financial system," he said. he said in an interview with Citi News.