‘Set up independent information commission to monitor RTI Bill’
Six associations in the Upper East Region have stressed the need for an independent information commission to monitor the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill.
They noted that Parliament must also, as a matter of urgency, review and pass into law the RTI Bill by including in the bill certain vital information that would serve the interest of Ghanaians.
In a resolution issued at the end of a forum at Bolgatanga on the need for due diligence as far as the RTI Bill was concerned, the associations urged the Parliamentary Committee on Communications and the Committee on Legal Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs to ensure that the Bill specified the date for the commencement of its implementation, stressing that the current state of the RTI Bill was not the best, hence the need to review it before passing it into law.
The associations are: the Cattle Dealers Association, Market Women Association, Christian Mothers Association, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Ghana (FOMWAG), Basket Weavers Association and the Association of Persons Living with Disabilities.
"It is now time for Parliament to connect the right to information to the daily lives of those of us they represent and our right to development," the resolution said.
They further stated that access to information was a "powerful tool for strengthening democracy, promoting development, as well as upholding transparency, accountability and promoting good governance in general".
While commending the government for the draft RTI Bill, the associations said they were deeply concerned that the Bill had not been passed for the past 12 years.
The Right to Information Coalition Focal Person, Mr Norbert Atiah Atanga, observed that the right to information was a fundamental human right guaranteed in the 1992 constitution.
"Article 21 (1) (f) of the constitution guarantees every person the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society," he indicated.
The forum was aimed, among other things, at raising the awareness of the participants and urging stakeholders to, as a matter of urgency, pass the RTI Bill into law. It was organised by the Right to Information Coalition with support from STAR-Ghana, United States Agency for International Development, the Danish International Development Agency and United Kingdom Aid.