The Media Coalition on the Right to Information Bill has described as ‘misplaced’ the Speaker of Parliament’s assertion that Civil Society Organizations are creating a false impression that Parliament is being sluggish in dealing with the RTI bill currently before the house.
The Coalition said evidence abounds that without the push of CSOs, the bill wouldn’t have reached the level it is now.
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye during an address before Parliament went on recess for the Christmas on Saturday, said the conduct of some institutions was creating an impression that Parliament was being lackadaisical in passing the RTI bill.He said such assumptions and impressions created by the organizations were false and needed to be corrected.
According to him, Parliament on the contrary, has been working hard to get the bill passed and is sure to finish its work by the end of February 2019.
“While Parliament is still working hard to pass the RTI bill, certain persons and institutions are acting as if we are drooling off on the bill. This is fallacious and I will be glad if the media will seriously correct this misrepresentation. The bill has seen several years and several parliaments, and it is tricky in many ways,” the speaker said.
But a leading member of the Media Coalition on RTI, Elvis Darko, who’s the Editor of the Finder Newspaper in a Citi News interview expressed regret at the comments of the speaker.
He said CSOs must be credited for pressurizing the house to move forward with the bill.
“The speaker’s comment to us, is misplaced, because the bill was something they promised to pass before they rise for the end of this year. When they resumed the last sitting, Media Coalition was in parliament to remind them, so for the speaker to say that we are making it to look like they are not doing the work is misplaced. The evidence shows that without the pressure of Civil Society Organizations, the bill would not have been where it is today, so for us, so long as we have reason to believe the bill is being delayed unnecessarily, we will put pressure until it is passed. That is our position and we are not changing our position,” Elvis Darko said.
Prof. Oquaye however holds the view that Parliament is more interested in passing the RTI bill than the CSOs, hence his caution to them during his address in Parliament on Saturday that “no Civil Society Organization should at this belated hour jump on our backs and pretend as if they are the people interested in passing this bill,” as “we are committed to passing the bill and we are working towards it.”
He however gave a new assurance that the RTI bill will be passed before the end of February 2019 since the house has done about 80% of the work required.
The right to information is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.
The Bill as has been drafted is to give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary for a democratic society.”
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By: Jonas Nyabor | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
The post We’ll pile more pressure; Oquaye’s comment against CSOs on RTI bill ‘misplaced’ – Media Coalition appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
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