RTI Bill Passage: The Buck Stops With The Majority Leader

The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is not doing enough to rally Majority MPs around the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, a member of Parliament's Communications Committee, Sam George has said.

“The Majority Leader, who is the leader of government has shown no fight in getting his members ready for us to consider the RTI,” the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislator told Citi News.

“For him [Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] as leader of government business and leader of the House; to ensure that they spend more time focused on the RTI [Bill], the buck stops with him,” Mr. George remarked.

The Media Coalition pushing for the passage of the RTI Bill has already expressed concerns some MPs are frustrating attempts to Pass the Bill.

According to the collation, only 30 to 50 MPs are in the chamber anytime the RTI Bill is up for consideration.

The Adansi-Asokwa MP, K.T. Hammond, had earlier said he and some fellow MPs had no plans to rush the Bill through Parliament.

“I am very very worried. It has potential banana skins and we have got to look at it pretty carefully and some of us are petrified. I am very uncomfortable,” the MP had told Citi News.

He said he was particularly concerned with clause 17 of the Bill, which he described as “the most dangerous clause of all the clauses.”

Clause 17 allows the release of exempt information if the information being requested will reveal evidence of failure to comply with the law, the risk to public safety, among others.

The clause also mandates the disclosure of the exempt information if the disclosure clearly outweighs the harm or danger that the disclosure will cause.

Because of these concerns, Mr. Hammond said “we will do our best. We will go through but nobody is going to rush.”

Source: citinewsroom.com | Ghana