{"id":282104,"date":"2017-01-05T18:49:02","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T18:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=282104"},"modified":"2017-01-05T18:49:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T18:49:02","slug":"mahama-begs-parliament-to-approve-rti-bill-at-the-11th-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/mahama-begs-parliament-to-approve-rti-bill-at-the-11th-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahama begs Parliament to approve RTI Bill at the 11th hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

With barely 24 hours to the dissolution of the 6th<\/sup> Parliament, President John Mahama has charged the House to consider passing the Right to Information Bill (RTI).<\/p>\n

The Bill has been before parliament for over 10 years, but it is yet to be passed into law.<\/p>\n

However, the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, will end midnight on Friday, giving way for the seventh parliament to be inaugurated on January 7.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”EHEvERV6riZePv0pWjIrXwlhlue6VurX”]But President John Mahama while delivering his State of the Nation Address in Parliament today, [Thursday], said public and civil society organizations are disappointed over his government and Parliament\u2019s inability to pass the Bill into law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must however say that, the public and Civil Society Organisations are disappointed in our inability to pass the Right to Information Bill and are still hopeful that before this Parliament is dissolved at midnight on the 6th<\/sup> of January, a consensus can be found to pass this Bill into law,\u201d he expressed.<\/p>\n

But the Minority Speaker of Parliament, who will soon lead the NPP majority side, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said the House in its current state may not be able to pass the Bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still wondering whether in the dying embers of this extra time, this House may still find space and time to work on the Right to Information Bill. We all recognize that it is a very important Bill, but I do not think that it will do us any good\u2026we all recognize the significance of this Bill\u2026nobody should have any emotions about that [but] we will pursue what is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minority delaying passage of RTI bill<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Majority in Parliament recently accused the Minority of not showing ample commitment<\/strong><\/a><\/span> regarding the passage of the Right to Information Bill.<\/p>\n

According to the majority, many MPs on the minority side leave the chamber in their numbers when the matter comes up, denying the house the needed quorum to transact business on the important Bill.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Godwin A. Allotey& Felicia Osei\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @AlloteyGodwin<\/a>
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