Parliament can pass RTI Bill in 4 days under Certificate of Emergency - Ayariga

Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has posited that, there is nothing to celebrate about cabinet's approval given to the Right to Information Bill (RTI).

The MP for Bawku Central told Rainbow Radio’s Kwabena Agyapong that, the key thing is to commit to the passage of the bill.

He also noted that the passage of the bill will be possible for passage by parliament in 4 four days under a certificate of urgency if indeed President Nana Akufo-Addo, is committed to ensuring the bill is passed into law before Parliament rises.

He stressed that, parliament can pass the legislation under a certificate of urgency. It is possible. They should show enough commitment.''

He was however quick to warn that, should the amended bill fail to address corruption and help fight it, then the bill, will be meaningless.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that cabinet has approved an amended RTI bill and has forwarded same to parliament for passage.

Speaking at the Norway-Ghana Business and Investment Forum in Accra on Monday, the second gentleman of the land added ‘’it is our hope that this will be an additional feather in our cup in the fight against corruption.’’

‘’Ghana has taken cognizance of the mistakes of others. Since coming into office, President Akufo-Addo has deployed some bold initiatives aimed at curbing the corruption menace in order to assure the investing public of the safety of their investments.’’

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament is advocating for the bill to consider the private sector.

Commenting on that, the legislator wondered why the private sector should be forced to disclose information about their businesses.

He said, what we are entitled to as citizens is about public information and not private.

‘’We are entitled to information on what our tax payers money is used for and not what a private businessman does,’’ he said.

He also added that if government should award a contract to a private individual, Ghanaians should be able to have details about the number of beneficiaries of the contract.