GII: Information Bill has taken too long

The Programme Manager of Ghana Integrity Initiative, Linda Ofori-Kwafo, has called on Parliament to enact the Freedom of Information Law to compliment the Whistleblowers' Act in order to allow greater access to public information and to encourage the exposure of wrongdoing in public office, as well as foster transparency in good governance and public administration.

Mrs Ofori-Kwafo noted that the right to information is an essential, practical anti-corruption measure, saying, "Research has shown that countries with access to information laws are perceived to be the least corrupt. In 2002, of the ten countries scoring best in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index, no fewer than eight had an effective legislation enabling the public to see government files. Of the ten countries perceived to be the worse when it comes to corruption, not even one had a functioning access to information regime".

She however, commended Parliament for passing a number of legislation in the fight against corruption including, the Public Procurement Act, the Financial Administration and Audit Act, Whistleblower Act among others, saying the GII recognises the importance of such legislation in holding public officials accountable.

Mrs Ofori-Kwafo, was speaking in Tamale at a 2-day workshop on Democracy and Good Governance, jointly organised by Ghana Integrity Initiative and the NCCE.

She said, a lax and ineffective assets disclosure regime is most likely to provide opportunities for public office holders to be corrupt, and urged that Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution which enjoins public office holders to declare their assets be enforced while efforts are made to remove the administrative bottle necks that have prevented their strict enforcement in the past.

The Programme Manager of GII said among the issues that needed urgent attention were the Assets Declaration law, especially provisions on disclosure, accessibility, an effective verification system, sanctions for breaching the law, and the issue of gifts under the law.

Mrs Ofori-Kwafo stressed that, despite some gains made in fighting corruption as a nation, the fight against corruption is far from won, judging from Ghana's placement on the Corruption Perception Index. Ghana's best scores in the CPI were recorded in 2002 (3.9) and 2007 (3.7) out of a clean of 10.

Again, the Auditor-General's report of 2006 submitted to Parliament and the follow-up public hearing organised by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee in 2007 revealed that corruption among public officials is still a serious problem in the country.

She said, with some few months to the end of term of the office of government and to the 2008 general elections, the timing is right for the electorate to demand accountability from both those who have left or are still holding public office.

By Hamza Lansah Lolly