Cabinet okays RTI; Bill set to be sent to Parliament this week

Myjoyonline.com can confirm that the Right To Information Bill will be sent to Parliament for debate and approval.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Gloria Akuffo and the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu are said to be feverishly pushing for the Bill to be laid before the House rises this Friday, March 23.

The RTI bill, which is expected to help citizens and Civil Society Organizations and the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption, has been in and out of parliament for the past 15 years since it was first laid in 2003.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Independence Day told Ghanaians that he will facilitate the laying of the bill in parliament before the House rises.

Read: Akufo-Addo makes a strong case for RTI bill passage

He, however, is under pressure from civil society groups as the nothing had been heard with only five days left for the legislators to rise.

A source told Myjoyonline.com that cabinet met last week and gave approval for the RTI Bill to be laid in parliament as early as possible.

A group of campaigners on Monday hit the streets of Accra distributing flyers to push for bill to be laid before Parliament after it mounted pressure on the government to fulfil the President's promise.

"The president must do all he can to ensure that this bill goes to parliament, the people of Ghana will begin to take him seriously...and all the rhetoric accompanied with speeches on anti-corruption will be taken seriously," Mary Adda, Programmes Manager at Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) told Daniel Dadzie, host of the Super Morning Show on Joy FM Monday.

Read: Pressure mounts on gov't to lay RTI bill; fight taken to the streets

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