GOVT URGED TO EXPEDITE ACTION ON RIGHT TO INFORMATION BILL (PAGE 16, NOV 3)

The Brong Ahafo Network of non-governmental organisations (BANGO), has called on the Government to expedite action on the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) bill.
The coalition said passing the Right to Information Bill was a fundamental human right guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution and recognised as a right by the International Convention on human rights.
BANGO, which is also a member of the coalition on the RTI, argued that the bill, which was drafted in 2003 and reviewed in 2003 and 2005, had unnecessarily delayed and so it was high time the Government gave serious consideration to the passage of the bill into law.
The network of NGOs further pointed out that the passage of the RTI bill would establish a major legal instrument and political mechanism for the opening of the process of good governance, promotion of transparency, probity and accountability in public affairs as well as ensuring greater and popular participation in governance.
Addressing a press conference in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region, the group reminded the current Government of its 2008 election manifesto which stated that “The new NDC Government shall enact into law, the freedom of information bill to facilitate access to official information, buttressing our commitment to disclosures”.
A member of the Steering Committee of the coalition on the RTI, Dr F.K. Biney, observed that in his maiden state of the nation address, the President urged the passage of the bill which in his view, deserved serious consideration by Parliament but nothing concrete had since been done.
“Our democracy shall undergo metamorphosis, if consistent best international practices are adopted, since they will certainly produce a radical qualitative advancement in the desire for freedom, justice and good governance,” Dr Biney noted.
He further declared that “we are entreating all stakeholders and well-meaning Ghanaians to generate abundant public interest and pressure for the bill to be placed before Parliament for its consideration into law to meet international standards”.
Dr Biney added that civil society and the coalition desired to ensure the implementation of the RTI legislation.
The Secretary to BANGO, Mr Joseph Kwaku Yeboah, who also addressed the conference, pointed out that the choice of democratic governance entailed the active participation of every one in the country, stressing that in participatory democracy the right to information was particularly relevant.
Mr Yeboah, who is also the Programme Officer of the Brong Ahafo Regional Office of the National Commission on Civil Education (NCCE), emphasised that it was essential to ensure good governance and that it was only when those who were to participate in the process were informed that they could contribute meaningfully to governance.
He pointed out that the importance of the RTI and the desire to ensure that there was transparency in governance, constituted the foundation of empowering the citizenry to contribute to good governance and rapid development of the country.
The Co-ordinator of the Brong Ahafo Chapter of the Coalition, Mr Peter Subaare, in his opening remarks, urged all other stakeholders to come on board and ensure the passage of the RTI bill into law because accessing information in Ghana was very difficult.