GJA clamours for RTI bill passage

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has asked for the quick passage of the Right to Information Bill with a call on parliament to cut down on draconian clauses likely to hamper access to information.

The bill was drafted in 2010. After years of review and continuous advocacy and queries by the UN for its passage, the bill has still not been passed.

At a public lecture to launch World Press Freedom Day 2016 at the International Press Centre in Accra Friday April 30, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) Kwasi Gyan Apenteng said expeditious passage of the RTI bill will be beneficial to all.

“We must refuse to accept any legislation riddled with exceptions and claw-back clauses,” he told journalists.

“There is no point getting a Right to Information law that blacks out everything. So, you can have the law but when we have claw-back clauses added, in that case, indeed, that kind of legislation will be more useless than if we didn’t get it at all.”

Mr Gyan Apenteng said the RTI law would promote fairness and accountability.

He continued: “We need the Right to Information law to encourage journalists and society to question how we are governed and how national resources are used.

“It will promote fairness, accountability, and social justice, all being a cornerstone in the fight against corruption.

“In fact, the Right to Information [law] will also help everybody, especially even the politicians, who are not too keen on it because it will reduce journalists’ dependence on conjecture, rumour, leaks, and all other sources as we try to find information.”