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Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and now Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute, Mr Koku Anyidoho says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deserves no praise for the passage of the Right to Information [RTI] bill.

He emphatically stated the President was “lucky” to have the bill passed under his tenure – after claiming he absolutely did nothing to see to its passage.

“Why are we praising the President?” he quizzed.  

According to Koku, Parliament is rather the appropriate body worthy of commendation for the yeoman’s role it played to ensure the bill is passed after several years of hiccups.

“Let’s rather commend parliament, parliament is made up of both NDC and NPP. They made sure the bill was passed. So it will be appropriate that we thank the representatives of the people of Ghana in parliament,” he said in an interview with NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’. 

Ghana’s parliament on Tuesday, 26 March 26 passed the Right to Information Bill - It now awaits presidential assent.

The bill was relayed before Parliament in March last year by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice Joseph Kpemka Dindiok after the previous parliament, the sixth of the fourth republic failed to pass it into law.

It had been over two decades since it was first drafted under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA and more than a decade since the Executive arm of government in 2002 drafted the first RTI bill.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his third state of the nation address to parliament on Thursday, 21 February 2019, said he was ready to sign the Bill into law as soon as it was passed by parliament.

"Mr Speaker, I’m happy to state that as you know, Parliament has virtually completed its deliberation on the Right to Information Bill and any moment from now the nation will hear the news of its long-anticipated passing. I will happily assent to it as soon as it’s brought to my table,” President Akufo-Addo said.