Ghana adopts Right to Information bill that boosts transparency and government accountability, in a serious boost to the tools available to Africa’s freest media landscape. The Republic of Ghana is located in West Africa, along with the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, and is bordered by the Ivory Coast, Burkina…
Ghana adopts Right to Information bill that boosts transparency and government accountability, in a serious boost to the tools available to Africa’s freest media landscape.
Background
The Republic of Ghana is located in West Africa, along with the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, and is bordered by the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. A unitary conditional democracy, Ghana’s premier is a president is both the head of state and the head of the government. Ghana’s history has seen multiple military governments ruling from Accra, although it transitioned into a multi-party democracy in 1992, adopting a new constitution. Recent years have seen a stable democracy emerge in the West African nation, with successive civilian governments ruling the nation. Nana Akufo-Addo, a former human rights lawyer, won the presidential elections of December 2016 by appealing to an electorate upset over the country’s economic performance. The nation enjoys a comparatively high level of press freedom, with a host of private and public broadcasters.
A right of Information is typically an act of law aimed at outlining a practical regime for civilians to secure information that remains in the public domain, especially those under public mandates. The act is intended to increase transparency and promote accountability within the everyday workings of all public authorities. The need for such an act often comes in response to increasing public dissatisfaction over the secrecy that often surrounds government policy development and decision making. Instituting a “right-to-know,” legal processes allow requests for government information to be provided free or at little cost to civilians.
Analysis
Ghana’s parliament recently adopted a law called the Right to Information (RTI) bill in order to allow its citizens access to certain information in aid of holding the government accountable to its mandate. Ghana’s Right to Information is enshrined in the 1992 constitution but has since struggled to pass regulations that make its application practical viability. In 1999, Ghana’s Institute for Economic Affairs drafted a bill, although it was reviewed three times before being presented in parliament in 2010. In March 2018, the current RTI bill was placed before parliament and required a year of deliberations before being passed. The bill now awaits presidential approval before its complete ratification.
The delay in passing the bill was the subject of a number of protests from media and civil society groups. They variously held that lawmakers were deliberately sabotaging the bill in an effort to protect their own interests. On the other hand, lawmakers argued that the bill required careful deliberation in order to account for a host of factors, including issues pertaining to national security. Protestors had also criticised President Akufo-Addo for the perceived lack of action relating to the RTI bill, which he had promised to pass during his election campaigns.
The law operationalises the conditional right to information from Ghana’s public institutions, although the law also permits the procurement of information from some private institutions. Simultaneously, the law accounts for lawmakers concerns of public interest within a democratic society, instituting exemptions to information procurement.
Ghana’s 2018 ranking as the freest media on the African continents by Reporters Without Borders is like to get a further boost; journalists are likely to find easier access to official government data. Ghana’s press had much to do with Ghana’s recent democratic record, helping shape the democracy into the regional stabilising force it has become. However, a recent killing of an investigator associated investigative journalism in Ghana has highlighted the increasing dangers Ghanaian journalists are subject to. This rise in physical attacks has resulted in increasing calls among journalists to boycott activities of the police. President Akufo-Addo has condemned the attacks, boosting calls for a free and independent press.
Ghana’s stability as democracy seems to be inherently connected to the state of its media. Recent actions aimed at intimidating Ghana’s free press must be suppressed in order to ensure the continued stability of the country. Although the RTI bill is primarily aimed at Ghana’s civilians, most of that population is unlikely to ever make an RTI request. It falls upon free and fair media to report issues that are of importance to Ghana’s electorate.
Assessment
Our assessment is that Ghana’s Right to Information bill is an important normative step that continues to ensure the stability of her nascent democracy. We believe that President Akufo-Addo, bolstered by his background as a human rights lawyer, is likely to continue to take measures aimed at boosting civil rights. We also believe that Ghana’s press must continue their stellar performance and take advantage of the RTI act to augment their role as the fourth estate of Ghanian society, especially in a resource-rich region.
Image Courtesy: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Ghan%C3%A9s_Arquitectura_Postmoderna_y_Arquitectura_Futurista_%28Ghanaian_Postmodern_Architecture_and_Futurist_Architecture%29.JPG, EnzoRivos [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Leave a Reply