Miss Mina Mensah, Regional Coordinator at the Africa Office of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), has said Ghana must have a law to support the full exercise of the right to information.
She said, Ghana is signatory to a number of International Conventions on the Right to Information, so the concept is not new or foreign to the country.
Miss Mensah was speaking at a sensitization workshop on using existing laws to access information for 60 selected students of the Takoradi Polytechnic, Holy Child Training College and the Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Sekondi, in Takoradi.
She said provisions of the Ghanaian Right to Information Bill which had been laid before Parliament, are a fair attempt to meet international human rights norm and best practice.
Miss Mensah said there are 11 areas of the Bill that need review, in order to bring it in line with international best practice standards.
She pointed out that maximum disclosure is the overriding principle of any effective freedom of information law, and the Right to Information Bill is weak on this point.
Miss Mensah said as the right to information is a fundamental human right guaranteed under the Constitution, its limitation can be justified only if it is reasonably necessary for the protection of the public interest or the rights and freedoms of others.
She said some provisions of the Bill enable government and public officials to withhold information when there is no necessity not to make disclosure.
Miss Mensah said the Bill provides the Minister of Justice with the power to implement it, but this brings about conflict of interest because the Minister of Justice may be obliged to obey the state as an of government.
She proposed the establishment of an independent information commission to replace the Ministry of Justice.
Miss Mensah said the law should provide for an independent enforcement body to monitor the implementation of the Act, and also to act as a review body where information has been denied.
She said the law should specify a maximum time limit for implementation to ensure that there is no room for postponing the law indefinitely.
Miss Mensah said every public body should carefully manage its information so that it can easily be located and provided in a timely and efficient manner when requested.
Miss Esther Ahulu, Right to Information Project Officer at the CHRI Africa Office, explained that the workshop was aimed at creating awareness on citizen?s right to access information and building a constituency committed to seeking information based on provisions in existing laws.
She said Ghana?s choice of democracy entails active participation by all, but it is only when those who are to participate in all the sectors of the country are well informed that they will be able to make informed and meaningful contributions.
Miss Ahulu said government has the responsibility to maintain and proactively disclose information, to enable citizens participate in the way they are governed, and it is also important that citizens also see it as their duty to seek information on issues in the country.
She said access to information lays the foundation upon which to build good governance, transparency, accountability and eliminates corruption.
Miss Ahulu said, ?Awareness creation on the need to proactively disclose and seek information has, therefore, become increasingly necessary in the quest to advance democracy and rapid development.?
