Seasoned Journalist, Kweku Baako Jnr. has called on the Akufo-Addo administration to expedite the implementaion of the Right to Information law (RTI).
The Right to Information Bill was passed by Parliament last year to operationalize the constitutional right to information held by public and private institutions, and to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and related matters.
The RTI Bill was first drafted in 1999, reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but only presented to Parliament in 2010.
It was then brought before the Sixth Parliament but wasn’t passed till the tenure of that Parliament elapsed on January 6, 2016.
The Bill was re-laid in Parliament in 2018 by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joseph Dindiok and considered for amendments and went back and forth till the incumbent government had it passed into law.
However, the Act has not been implemented to its fullest because certain procedures have to be well-established before it can be effective.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah speaking on the RTI law, noted that the implementation of the law would require the establishment of information units in all public offices, recruitment and training of information officers to man the units, the establishment of the RTI Commission and the completion of various administrative protocols.
But it’s been one year since the law was made and yet there are challenges to acquiring information from State institutions.
Addressing the issue on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ programme, Kweku Baako expressed concerns over the delay in enforcing the RTI law after years of fighting for it to be passed.
According to him, although the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has passed the RTI bill and captured it in the party’s 2020 manifesto which is commendable, the Right to Information law is still hanging because people and entities are not given express access to information.
In his earnest view, the tortoise manner in which the RTI law is being implemented makes people have a certain phobia for aspects of the law.
“There’s still the urgent need for information flow and people have gone out there to seek information only for them to be given excuses,” he said.He admonished the government to ensure effective and full implementation of the law saying “actualize it. Let it live; give it life not the letter. Let the letter and spirit come together and that constitutes life”.
