Government to commence preparatory work ahead of RTI Bill passage – Minister

The government of Ghana through the Ministry of Information is commencing preparatory work ahead of the passage of the Right To Information (RTI) Bill which is expected to take place in parliament this week, the Information Minister has said.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah commended parliament for completing the consideration stage of the RTI Bill “in good time” after several policy changes and amendments and months of rigorous debates on the floor of the house.

Laid in March last year, the RTI Bill was first brought to Parliament in 2010 but could not be passed by the two previous Parliaments.

The momentum to have it passed gathered in 2017 in the formation of coalitions to put pressure on the House after it came close to passing it in 2016.

The Minister disclosed that although there are new petitions asking for amendments to provisions of the Bill, the Legislative arm of government is minded to pass the Bill into law this week and then sent for Presidential ascent.

“The Bill is currently in its form requiring the establishment of information unit in all public offices, recruitment and training of information officers to man this unit, establishment of the RTI commission and the completion of various administrative protocols before the commencement of the next fiscal year.” He said.

He however, added that, “these are necessary to ensure that there will be the needed infrastructure that can deliver on the RTI request that will be filed under this new law. The new law will be a major addition to the credentials of Ghana as a strong democracy.”