We’ll pass RTI Bill this year – Bawumia

According to him, among the issues the government will pursue are amendment of the criminal code to make corruption a felony, rather than a misdemeanor as the law states currently, to ensure stiffer punishment for persons found to be corrupt.Speaking at a Transparency International Regional meeting in Accra earlier today [Thursday], Dr. Bawumia said government will ensure a special prosecutor’s office to prosecute persons found to be corrupt.

“Our government has already made it clear that we will be passing the Right to Information Act. We will make sure a special prosecutor’s office is set up to prosecute corruption and we will amend the criminal code to move the corruption from a misdemeanor to a felony. These are just some of the actions we intend to implement this year,” Dr Bawumia said.

The 6^th Parliament of the 4^th Republic, failed to pass the Right to Information Bill, even after former president, John Mahama, appealed to them to do so in his last state of the nation address.

The bill has been in parliament since 2013.

The Coalition on the Right to Information (RTI) Ghana, which has championed the crusade to get the Bill passed, has already tasked the new NPP government to as a matter of urgency facilitate its passage.

In a recent statement, the group congratulated the Attorney-General (AG) and Minister for Justice, Gloria Akuffo, and urged her to work with the President, Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure the Bill is passed

“It is our hope that the AG will give priority to the RTI Bill and that His Excellency, President Nana Akufo Addo will ensure that the Bill is referred to Parliament as soon as possible, hopefully in his first hundred days.

The Coalition said it remained committed to working with the AG and all stakeholders to ensure the speedy passage of the Right to Information legislation in Ghana,” the statement read.