RT Will Be Passed – Gomoa West MP Assures

Vice Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Alexander Kwadwo Abban, has given further assurances that the Right to Information Bill will be passed in parliament's next sitting.

His assurance follows several failed promises by various political figures who served in successive governments.

The RTI bill when passed is expected to increase the access of citizens to public information.

Speaking to Citi News, the Gomoa West MP said he sees nothing that can prevent the house from passing the bill in its next session.

The legislator explained that although there are some constitutional hurdles to address before the Bill could be passed, he is confident the passage will happen.

“I want to assure Ghanaians that the Right to Information Bill will be passed; there are certain constitutional duties; for instance the President will be required to give the state of the nation address purposely to inform. But for now I do not know any other thing that will cause a delay; so let Ghanaians be rest assured that the Right to Information Bill will be passed.”

RTI bill will be passed by end of February 2019 – Oquaye

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, in December 2018 set a new deadline for the passage of the Right to Information Bill.

The speaker gave the indication during his closing address before the House went on break for Christmas.

While indicating the House's commitment to passing the bill, the speaker said although the bill was 'tricky', the House has completed 80 percent of the work that needs to be done before it is passed.

“The bill has seen several years and several parliaments and it is tricky in many ways. The budget and other important matters also came our way. We have done 80% of the work already and we will finish the bill fully I believe and professionally on or before the end of February 2019.”

He urged the public to “trust us and leave us alone for now” to deal diligently with the bill.

‘National Security, stability must be considered before RTI bill passage’ – Kufuor

Former President John Kufuor also in December last year said security concerns must not be ignored amid the clamour for passage for the Right to Information (RTI) Bill.

“We must look at security and stability in working of the Bill,” he remarked at the Annual Leadership Series organised by the University of Professional Studies on Wednesday.

“The real challenge is not government refusing to pass the bill. But the text of the Bill has not been revisited enough to offer guarantees to information that are of security and stability concerns to the integrity of the nation itself.”

“This Bill must be passed to achieve better governance, Yes. But it must not be at the cost of security and stability of the nation,” the former President stated.

---Citinewsroom