Prime News Ghana

RTI bill re-laid in Parliament

By Kweku Antwi Jnr
Parliament of Ghana
Parliament of Ghana
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The much awaited Right to Information Bill has finally been re-laid in Parliament.

It is expected to go through the normal legislative process for passage instead of the earlier laid under certificate of urgency.

Both sides of the House earlier on voted to withdraw the bill which was previously laid under a certificate of urgency.

The Bill was therefore referred to a Joint Committees on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and Communications just before the House went on recess.

But the Joint Committee in its report cautioned against a hasty passage of the Bill and recommended that it goes through the normal legislative processes.

Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Ben Abdallah Banda backing he reasons why the Bill should go through the normal process instead of the certificate of urgency ,on the Floor of Parliament   said “when we met, the committee came to the agreement that given the interest that the public has in the bill, we cannot take it under the certificate of urgency, and therefore the committee recommended to take it through the normal legislative process”.

The right to information is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.

The bill, as it has been drafted, is to give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society”.

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