The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the Right to Information, Ghana, has called on the government to amend the Right to Information Bill (RTIB) before passing it into law.
They also called for the speedy passage of the bill into law and the provision of the requisite legislative instrument to ensure its effective implementation.
The coalition explained that the bill, as it was now, had many limitations to the right to information.
The coalition made these known at a forum for members of the CSOs to share the challenges they faced in their attempt to get information from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as part of a research work by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CWHI) to establish general barriers to accessing information.
At the forum, the coalition, therefore, urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, eliminate provisions that were barriers to accessing information when the bill was passed.
Barriers to accessing information
The forum was also to offer the MDAs the opportunity to explain why the CSOs faced the supposed challenges.
However, only the Minerals Commission and the Ghana Revenue Authority turned up, out of the 10 MDAs invited to the programme.
Recommendations
The Regional Co-ordinator of CHRI’s African office, Ms Nina Mensah, said the bill should state emphatically penalties to institutions which unreasonably delayed or withheld information from the public.
She explained that the right to information was as essential as the right to life and, therefore, there should be no limitations to exercising the right to information.
She called on the public who had not joined the campaign on the amendment and passage of the RTIB to do so to ensure that the desired results were attained.
Background
CHRI works to raise public awareness of the value of the right to information.
CHRI believes that the right to information is fundamental to the realisation of economic and social rights and civil and political rights.
According to the CHRI, informed participation by all must, therefore, be guaranteed through increased access to public information.
