Govt takes closer look at Right to Information bill

Accra, June 19, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Friday referred a Memorandum on the Right to Information (RTI) bill to a Cabinet Committee for study before the appropriate decisions are taken on it. The President has also appointed a transaction adviser to advice on the best option and the way forward for Ghana International Airlines Limited.

A statement signed by the Mrs Sabah Zita Okaikoi, Minister of Information to the Ghana News Agency, said the mandate of the five-member ad-hoc Committee was to study a report submitted to the current government by the past administration on the Airlines. The committee has been tasked to make appropriate recommendations to Cabinet after studying the report. Membership of the committee includes the Ministers of Transport, Trade and Industry, Information, Communication and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

The statement noted that the President had directed that discussions and decisions taken at Cabinet should be regularly communicated to the public through periodic press briefings and press statements.

The Statement said the institution of the periodic cabinet briefings was in furtherance of the President's commitment to making information available to the public and the determination to running an open and transparent government.

The resumption of the practice, which used to take place during the previous National Democratic Congress administration (1992-2000), will afford the media to inform the public about matters that are regularly considered by Cabinet.

The statement outlined issues raised at previous Cabinet meetings as the apparent lack of impact of public sector reforms on the economy and national development as a whole, the increasing national energy bill together with the growing national wage bill, in relation to the introduction of the Single Spine Salary Structure.