The Media Foundation for West Africa has said it will be embarrassing for Ghana to host the World Press Freedom Day without passing the Right to Information (RTI) Bill.<\/p>\n
Ghana will join the rest of the world to host the World Press Freedom Day on May 2 and 3 this year, to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to advance the cause of journalism.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”MDGgGhXHAYsvMgXmUz0i6Ih6iMt90AaD”]According to the Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, it is not too late for the government to pass the Bill, and passing the Bill will show the country\u2019s commitment to the pursuit of democratic values.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be embarrassing for us, if we host the World Press Freedom Day and we still do not have the RTI bill. It is quiet worrying that countries around us and countries in Africa, that we appear to be doing better than, who praise Ghana all the time, have gone ahead to have the Right to Information law in place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that it is quite sad that over the period 6 years, the\u00a0number of countries that have passed the RTI Bill has increased from 6 to 21, but Ghana is not included.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can talk about our three neighbouring Togo, Burkina Faso, Cote d\u2019Ivoire and in West Africa, we can talk about Nigeria, Sierre Leone, Liberia, Niger, Guinea, all these countries ave RTI Bill in place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The NPP government, in the build-up to the 2016 elections, promised to expedite the passage of the bill.<\/p>\n
The Foundation\u2019s Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, wants the Akufo-Addo government to pass the bill before hosting the World Press Freedom Day this year.<\/p>\n
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has promised that government will facilitate the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill this year.<\/p>\n
He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is committed to enhancing accountability and dealing with corruption.<\/p>\n
The Right to Information (RTI) Coalition,\u00a0 hit the streets in September 2017,\u00a0 to raise awareness on the need for the passage of bill.<\/p>\n
The Right to Information (RTI) Coalition\u00a0<\/strong>expressed disappointment in President Mahama\u2019s leadership\u00a0for failing to ensure the passage of the bill before he exited.<\/p>\n According to the Coalition, \u201cPresident Mahama had not demonstrated strong commitment to the passage of the RTI Bill, despite his party\u2019s promises in their 2008 and 2012 manifestos.\u201d<\/p>\n Many advocates of free speech have criticized successive\u00a0governments for their lack of interest in ensuring that the Bill is passed.<\/p>\n The bill, which has been in and out of Parliament for over a decade, is yet to be passed in spite of its potential of\u00a0enhancing access to information in the country.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Farida Yusif\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Media Foundation for West Africa has said it will be embarrassing for Ghana to host the World Press Freedom Day without passing the Right to Information (RTI) Bill. Ghana will join the rest of the world to host the World Press Freedom Day on May 2 and 3 this year, to celebrate the fundamental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":388137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,11],"tags":[3,3223,6834,632],"yoast_head":"\n