RTI Bill recipe for disaster - K.T Hammond

Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T Hammond has said passing the Right to Information (RTI) bill into law will be a “disaster” and a recipe for “bad governance” in the country.

According to the MP, the bill will make governance problematic for the country and will not inure to the nation’s best interest when it is passed into law.

His comment follows a renewed pressure from media practitioners and civil society groups for the legislature to pass the age old bill which is seen as a key tool to combating corruption.

“[The RTI] is a recipe for disaster, it’s a recipe for bad governance. Tony Blair went on to tell the whole world how stupid he was for bringing the RTI bill, knowing how belatedly the implications was. He said they were wrong, it was one useless piece of legislation that he passed and he is very upset about it and we learn from history. We sit down here and we don’t want to learn from history, so fine let's go ahead,” Mr Hammond told journalists.

The RTI Bill is expected to increase the access of citizens to public information.

It has however been in and out of Parliament for about 18 years without passage.