25 Bodies endorse review of Right to Information Bill
Twenty-five professional and religious institutions in the country have endorsed the reviews proposed on the Right to Information Bill by the Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
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They have, therefore, called on Parliament and the public to support the proposals to ensure the effective passage of the bill that would help protect the integrity of public institutions, promote participation, transparency and accountability.
This was contained in a communique issued last Wednesday after a day’s workshop for professional and religious bodies in Accra.
The workshop, organised by the Coalition on the Right to Information, was attended by representatives of the National Catholic Secretariat, Institute of Chartered Accountants,Institute of Public Relations, Ghana, Ghana Institute of Planners, and the Importers Association.
Background
The Right to Information Bill, 2010, which seeks to provide concrete legal mechanisms and procedures by which all persons can exercise and assert the right to access information in the custody of public institutions and categories of private bodies, was resubmitted to Parliament on November 12, 2013.
It was subsequently referred to the Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for scrutiny.
The select committee, after a series of consultations with civil society organisations and other stakeholders, proposed revisions to the content of the bill in line with the African Union Model Law and the options paper submitted to the committee by the coalition.
Some of the key revisions proposed by the select committee included the reduction of excessive timelines for granting access to information; and long list of exemptions, which has now been subjected to a harm test, thereby banishing blanket exemptions from the bill and further strengthening the proactive disclosure clause.
Other proposals contained in the revised bill are the inclusion of the establishment of an independent oversight commission to oversee implementation of the bill when passed, instead of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice being responsible for its implementation.
Recommendations
The statement called on the Attorney General and Minister for Justice to expedite the drafting of the relevant amendments to the bill and ensure that the amendments captured the deliberations and decisions of the select committee.
“We resolve to take various actions within the remit of the law to mobilise our constituent members and Ghanaians in general in support of an effective and robust right to information law as proposed by the select committee,” it said.
The statement also called on Parliament, without further delay, to pass the bill, with the relevant amendments into law and for the President to give his assent to the bill.