Akufo-Addo signs RTI Act into Law

• Posted on May 21, 2019
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appended his signature to the RTI Act finally making it a law.

The President assented his signature to the bill Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in the full glare of journalists stating that the bill was only brought to him on Monday.

However, the bill will only come into operation in January 2020, according to the President.

After about two decades of waiting, Parliament on Tuesday passed the Right to Information Bill (RTI) in March this year.

This was after the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, moved the motion for third reading and seconded by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central and Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini.

The law provides for the operationalisation of the constitutional right to information held by public and some private institutions, subject to exemptions that are necessary and consistent with the protection of public interest in a democratic society.

It also seeks to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and to provide for related matters.

The RTI Bill was first drafted in 1999, reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was only presented to Parliament in 2010.

It was brought back to the Sixth Parliament but could not be passed till the expiration of that Parliament on January 6, 2016.

After months of waiting, the Bill was laid in Parliament in 2018 by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joseph Dindiok.