A member of the parliamentary select committee on communications and MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, has advised Ghanaians and the media coalition to seek for a review of the Public Record Administration and Archiving Department (PRAAD) Act rather than just the passing of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill into law.
This, he said, is because the PRAAD Act is what governs the archiving of government information.
Mr. George said this in interview with host of GBC’s Current Affairs Programme “Behind the News” Ibrahim Kwarteng in Accra.
The MP explained that, this will ensure proper information storage and handling in various institutions to make information available and accessible on request.
He said there is no need to fight for the passing of the RTI Bill if the information to be obtained is not available due to improper storage of information in the various institutions.
The committee member said he feared that if the Bill is passed now into law, the needed information may not be available, adding that the RTI bill is basically requesting a new level of civil service of Information Officers at Institutions, who must respond to people when they come to seek for information.
He said if parliament can be reconvened from recess to consider a loan, then same could be applied to the RTI Bill as important; however, he said that the leadership of the house determines the order of business.
Mr. Sam George however, said that the delay of the bill to be passed into law will depend on the debates on each amendment to be accepted by the house which may even be referred back to the committee. He said parliament also has other agendas to attend to in a sitting.
BACKGROUND:
The Right To Information (RTI) Bill has been laid five times before Parliament since 2010. The bill is currently at the consideration stage before parliament.
On Monday, October 30, 2018, the Media Coalition on the Right To Information Bill trooped to Parliament to compel members to hasten the processes towards the passage of the bill into law.
However, they were prevented from entering the Parliament House and were approached and escorted to the Police Post on the premises of Parliament.
They were told they could not be allowed to enter the House in their branded T-shirts. The majority leader, Ose Kyei Mensah Bonsu has however said that, parliament will not be pressured to pass the bill.
Story By: Nhyira Kwabi
