Passage of information bill not simple - Veep

Accra, May 24, GNA - Vice president Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Thursday noted that the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill was not as simple as it seemed because there should be a lot of work to prepare people for its passage.

Alhaji Mahama was answering a question from a participant at a seminar organized by Les Aspin Centre for Government, an academic and experiential-educational leadership training institute of Marquette University, USA.

The 12-day seminar on accountability and good governance brought together 17 government and civil society personnel from Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Liberia.

An official of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), who expatiated on what was involved in the passage of the bill, said it was more complicated and technical.

The official who declined to be named explained that the bill bothered on security, investment, laws on intellectual property rights and many others that needed to be looked at well before passage. The SFO official said people needed to be educated on what kind of information they had access to, and said for instance, where did one differentiate between the public life and the private life when dealing with private information about individuals in public offices. "To what extent can one force a journalist to disclose a source? It is not easy for the general public to understand such issues." "It is not a simple law like the whistle blowers law or the domestic violence law," the official said.

He stressed that the public needed to be educated to balance information that was of public interest and those of national interest. 24 May 2007

NSOC 22 Social Court Driver Driver weeps in court over imminent sentence

Juaso (Ash), May 24, GNA- Humour and emotion engulfed a circuit court at Juaso on Monday, when a driver standing trial for careless driving shed uncontrollable tears. Kwame Tawiah, 32, could not hold back his tears moments after the judge, Mr. Jacob Boon told him he could be fined 240 million cedis or jailed five years having pleaded guilty to two counts of careless driving and negligently causing harm. Tawiah was remanded into prison custody to re-appear on July 1. Police Sergeant Ntim Gyakari told the court that on February 7, this year, the accused handling a Benz bus with registration number GR 7321 N drove towards Agogo from Konongo. The prosecutor said on reaching Juansah the accused who was driving carelessly past a stationary vehicle knocked down Evelyn Edwira who was then crossing the road. Edwira who sustained serious injuries was rushed to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital where she was admitted for weeks. 24 May 07