Right To Information Bill Given First Reading

Saturday February 06, 2010
By Salifu Abdul Rahaman

The Right to Information Bill yesterday
received its first reading in Parliament.

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Ebo Barton-Oduro, presented and read the much-talked about Bill on behalf of the sector minister.

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho who was in the chair, referred the Bill to the Parliamentary Select Committee on constitution, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, for consideration and report.

The Bill seeks to provide for the implementation of the constitutional right to information held by a government agency, subject to the exemptions necessary and consistent with the protection of the public interest in a democratic society, to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and to provide for related matters.

The Bill deals with two broad subject areas, with the first area dealing with information held by government agencies, and the second with general and miscellaneous matters.

It has 66 clauses arranged under six sections.

The various sections deal with the access to official information, compilation and publication of manual of information of an agency, exempt information, and procedure for access.

The rest are amendment of personal records in custody of an agency, internal review and appeals, general and miscellaneous provisions.

A memorandum accompanying the Bill, signed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu explained that the right to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution and is recognised as a human right by international conventions on human rights. Article 21 (1) (f) of the constitution provides that “all persons have the right to information, subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society.”

Consequently, the memorandum explains that the purpose of the bill is to give substance to that constitutional provision by providing for access to official information held by government agencies and the qualifications and conditions under which the access should be obtained.

The memorandum explains that the choice for democratic governance entails an active participation by all in the governance of the country.

In participatory democracy, the right to information is particularly relevant.
“It is only when those who are to participate in governance are well informed that they can contribute meaningfully to governance,” it said.

According to the memorandum, this realisation of the importance of the right to information and the desire to ensure that there is transparency in governance, constitute the foundation for empowering the citizenry to contribute to the good governance and rapid development and progress of the country.

The memorandum explains that the right to information, however, needs to be qualified in accordance with the constitution.

The constitution in Article 12 (2) subjects the enjoyment of the human rights provision in Chapter Five to the rights and freedoms of others and the public interest.

In addition, Article 21 (1) specifically subjects the right to information “to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in democratic society”.

The required qualification to right to information finds expression in the Bill through the exemptions and protections from disclosure of various kinds of information.

In the provision for the exemptions and protection, however, care has been taken to make them relate to specific circumstances and situations and to make them address specific pressing social needs so as to ensure that loopholes are not available which will be taken advantage of to whittle away the right of access in the implementation of the law, the memorandum explains.

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