Coalition On The Right To Information Ghana Expresses Dismay Over Yet Another Failure By Parlaiment To Pass The Rti Bill

The Parliament of Ghana has again reneged on its commitment to pass the Right to Information Bill into law, despite promises that the Bill will be passed in the second and third sittings of parliament this year, 2016.

The failure to pass the Bill by Parliament in the just ended sitting is particularly surprising and disappointing given the turn of events and the progressive steps taken within the last month by the AG and the Parliamentary Select Committee to ensure that the Bill was passed in this sitting. Following series of engagements with the leadership of Parliament and the Attorney General (AG), the AG took a bold step by incorporating all the proposed amendments into a new RTI Bill, and on 18^th October, the AG withdrew the old Bill and tabled the revised Bill (RTI BILL 2016) for consideration by Parliament. She specifically wrote to Parliament requesting that the Bill be considered under a Certificate of Urgency. Following the introduction of the new Bill in Parliament, it was immediately referred to the Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for their review and report. The review process by the Committee was completed within a day (October 23^rd) and the Committee submitted its report to Parliament two days later – October 25^th

In Parliament, the consideration of the new Bill progressed speedily as the Bill saw forty eight clauses considered in one day (Monday 31st October), however, the momentum could not be sustained as the minority members of Parliament began to raise concerns over minor issues. Some of the issues raised include the lack of quorum, but the Coalition’s monitoring of the consideration process indicated that some other Bills including loan agreements were passed despite the lack of quorum. That notwithstanding, given that the NDC government has the majority in Parliament, they could have used their numbers to pass the Bill if, indeed, they were keen on passing the law. How come Parliament had the numbers to pass the Local Government Act and the Aids Commission’s Act but lacked the numbers to enable the passage of the RTI Bill? One would have thought that given the fact that the Bill has been revised and all amendments incorporated and presented as one document, Parliament would no longer have an excuse for delaying the passage of the Bill. It would appear, however, and sadly so, that the forces that are against the passage of the law are much more than the Coalition had thought.

We have noted with concern and indeed it is very worrying that anytime there is a need to put in place laws that will enhance citizens’ right to hold their leaders accountable, governments both past and present are often very reluctant to pass or even initiate such legislation. Civil society organisations would have to campaign, petition, protest, and sometimes coerce government for such laws to be enacted.

The Coalition would like Ghanaians to judge from this over 13 years’ advocacy and failed promises by both the NPP and the NDC administration whether our politicians can be trusted. A Bill that managed to weather the storm under the NDC government and finally got to the final stages of Parliamentary processes twice, couldn’t be passed due to the lack of political will by Parliament to prioritize the consideration of the Bill. As a Coalition, we are completely disappointed over the non-passage of the Bill which we had every reason to expect would have been passed before the elections in December.

We would like to reiterate that the failure to pass the RTI law by the current Parliament is a missed opportunity for all Ghanaians, for the NDC government and the country at large. It is an indelible indictment on Parliament. We believe that this government still has an opportunity to redeem itself and the country’s ratings on international platforms - which government has noted is retrogressing due to the non-passage of the RTI law - by passing the RTI Bill before Parliament lapses in January 2017.

ISSUED BY THE COALITION ON THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION, GHANA, NOVEMBER 2016