RTI will be law by end of 2018 – Mustapha Hamid

Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, has assured that the Right to Information (RTI) Bill will be passed into law by close of year 2018.

Government came under massive pressure to get the bill laid following fears that the government was deliberately delaying the process.

Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka Dindiok, finally laid it before Parliament, on Friday, March 23 2018. It comes after Cabinet on Thursday March 22, approved the bill paving the way for it to be laid before the lawmakers.

It has been 22 years since the first Right to Information (RTI) Bill was drafted under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA.

Also, it is 16 years since the Executive arm of government in 2002 drafted the first RTI Bill. The draft Executive Bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was never laid in Parliament until February 5, 2010.

Speaking in Accra yesterday at a press launch as Ghana joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Press Freedom Day, Mr Hamid said all was in place to pass the bill by close of 2018.

“We have shown our commitment in this past year that we have come into office with a commitment to pass the Right to Information Law,” he said, adding “the Right to Information bill is going to become law by the close of this year.”