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Right to Information Bill: What it is

The draft Executive Bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was never laid in Parliament until February 5, 2010.

The bill will give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that "All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society".

It was first drafted 22 years ago under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA.

It was subsequently withdrawn to review some clauses.

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Since then, efforts by several advocacy groups to put pressure on the duty bearers to have the Bill passed have also not yielded any positive results until now.

Since the first draft of a right to information law so many years ago, the executive and legislature have been tossing it at will between themselves.

Observers have criticized successive governments for lacking the political will to pass the Bill.

The passage of the bill would not only make it easy for the public to seek critical information on various issues affecting them, but would also help them to participate and actively contribute to national development.

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The cause of the continued delay in the passage of the Bill by Parliament, was the Bill's inherent potential to enlighten and empower the Ghanaian citizenry to seek answers and probe the activities of politicians at all levels of governance.

This was causing some trepidation among the political class.

The delays in the passage of the Right To Information Bill (RTI) could be the politicisation and the fear of politicians to be held accountable by the masses, who stand to be empowered by the Bill when passed into law.

The Bill, which is expected to increase access to public information has been in and out of parliament for about 18 years without passage.

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Various advocacy groups emerged to press for the immediate passing of the bill into law in 2002 and reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2008 and 2012 election manifestos promised to pass the Bill and now the government of the New Patriotic Party seems to delay the Bill with so many promises given that parliament will pass the Bill into law.

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