Ghana’s RTI Law is Deficient; Needs to be Reviewed – William Nyarko
According to him, Ghana’s RTI law is deficient in the sense that it does not recognize the fact that every information in the custody of public institutions have already been paid for by the tax payer and therefore should not come as an extra cost to the tax payer when it is requested for.
Barely two years into the implementation of Ghana’s Right to Information Act, (Act 989), the Executive Director of the Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Mr. William Nyarko, has stressed the need for the Law to be reviewed because it is “deficient”. It has some fundamental challenges which defeats the purpose for which such a law has been promulgated.
According to him, Ghana’s RTI law is deficient in the sense that it does not recognize the fact that every information in the custody of public institutions have already been paid for by the tax payer and therefore should not come as an extra cost to the tax payer when it is requested for.
“The RTI Law which Ghana has, first of all, is deficient. It is deficient because it lacks the legal philosophy behind the fact that information that Government has; you have already paid for it. They are just giving it to you. So, in the Act, there should have been exemptions for the fees,” he said.
He made the remark at the sidelines of a day’s reporter’s workshop on the promotion of good governance and fight against corruption organized by Corruption Watch for some selected journalists and Civil Society Organizations aligned in the fight against corruption.
His remark was at the back of news that the Multimedia Group had been denied information regarding the transaction between the Ghana Airport Company and Frontier Healthcare Services Limited for the COVID-testing at the Kotoka International Airport. The media was told that they could not have access to the information requested for even under the RTI Law.
According to Mr. William Nyarko, Ghana’s RTI law should have recognized the role of the media in the society and should have made some exemptions for the media such as non-payment of fees for information requested to expose corruption in the society.
“There are challenges with the law and that will be the next steps of advocacy that we need to do moving forward. When you apply for information under the RTI and the organization says it is exempt, don’t leave it there; they do not have the finale say.
“You have the right to appeal. Under the RTI regime, the organizations are under an obligation to provide the information when you ask for it, albeit through legal processes,” he advised.
The RTI Act (Act 989) is a law that seeks to promote transparency and accountability by empowering the citizens to access information on central and local governments as well as non-governmental organizations, which are publicly funded.
The Right to Information (RTI) Bill was passed on 26 March 2019 by the Parliament of Ghana. It received presidential assent on May 21, 2019 and became effective in January 2020.
Source: Clement Akoloh||ghanaiannews.ca
