[ 2017-02-02 ]

Vice President, Dr. Bawumia

Bawumia wants Right to Information Bill passed in 100 days
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said he
wishes the Right To Information Bill were passed
within the first 100 days of the Akufo-Addo
government.

Speaking at a Good Corporate Governance Initiative
event in Accra on Tuesday, 31 January, Dr Bawumia
said in line with the new government’s resolve
to fight corruption, "we are going to have to push
parliament to make the necessary amendments and if
I had my way, it should be passed within these
first 100 days of this government," adding: "It
brings transparency in our governance."

The bill has been before parliament for about a
decade. Successive governments have been accused
of not showing commitment towards its passage.

In the dying embers of his administration, Mr John
Mahama said he was hopeful the sixth parliament
would pass the bill before its expiration. It
however, never happened.

The right to information, also known as freedom of
information is an internationally recognised
fundamental human right to access information held
by government bodies. It is also based on the
democratic principle that in a democracy, the
sovereignty of a nation lies in the hands of the
people in whose name and on whose behalf
government exercise powers.

In Ghana this is affirmed by Article 1(1) of the
1992 Constitution which categorically states that
‘the sovereignty of Ghana resides in the people
of Ghana in whose name and for whose welfare the
powers of government are to be exercised.’ This
principle is affirmed by article 21(1)(f) of the
same Constitution which grants ‘all persons .
The right to information subject to such
qualifications and laws as are necessary in a
democratic society’.

The right to information is fundamental to the
realisation of economic and social rights as well
as civil and political rights. The right to
information lays the foundation upon which to
build good governance, transparency,
accountability, participation, and check
arbitrariness and corruption in public life.

It will be recalled that the RTI Bill was first
laid before Parliament on 5 February 2010. It has
gone through a lot of amendments and changes but
is still yet to be passed.

Source - classfmonline.com

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