Speaker Orders RTI Bill off Order Paper In Parliament

Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Prof. Michael Aaron Oquaye, has ordered removal of the Right to Information bill ( RTI ) from the order paper following demands by Civil Society Organisations ( CSOs ) for some amendments to be effected to the bill before its passage.

The RTI coalition has presented some proposals to be incorporated into the bill before its passage. The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon Alban Bagbin yesterday cautioned that the inclusion of the new proposals will render the bill unimplementable when passed into law.

The RTI bill which is at the final stage of the process for its passage, has been advertised several times in the Order Paper of Parliament but the House has not been able to continue with the consideration of the bill due to demands by the RTI Coalition.

The Speaker Prof. Oquaye has therefore directed leadership of Parliament to meet the coalition in order to address their concerns.

Rt Hon Prof Michael Aaron Oquaye however asked the public to understand that any delay to the passage of the RTI bill currently is due to demands by the CSOs in relation to the bill and not the making of Parliament.

The Deputy Minority Whip and MP for Banda, Hon Ahmed Ibrahim advised the media to be mindful of their reportage on the current development on the RTI bill in order not to create the impression that Parliament is delaying the passage of the bill since the delay is rather due to the demands by the CSOs.