Ghanaians won’t tolerate further delays in RTI law implementation – Inusah Fuseini

The Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, and MP for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, says the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Law in January 2020 as approved in Parliament will be adhered to.

He says implementing agencies have been given ample time to institute the right structures for a successful operationalisation of the law.

In an interview with the media after a launch of a report on the RTI journey in Ghana, the Tamale Central MP said Ghanaians will not welcome any new date for the implementation of the RTI law.

“They didn’t have a provision in the law that sought to postpone the operationalisation of the law. No wonder Parliament suggested that we needed to give the implementing agencies an opportunity to be able to do that and we have given them close to seven months and so I don’t think that the people of Ghana will accept any further delay in the implementation of the law,” he said.

The RTI law will provide for the operationalisation of the constitutional right to information held by the public and some private institutions, though it is subject to exclusions that are essential and consistent with the protection of public interest.

It also seeks to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and to provide for related matters.

First drafted in 1999, it was reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was only presented to Parliament in 2010. But it could not be passed due to the many recommendations of amendment.

Later, it was brought back to the 6th Parliament but could not be passed till the end of that Parliament on January 6, 2016.

In 2017, momentum to get the bill passed increased following the formation of the Media Coalition on RTI. With support from other civil society organisations, the coalition heaped pressure on Parliament to get the Bill passed into law.

Source: citinewsroom.com