The Coalition on the Right to Information has commended his Excellency President Atta Mills and his Cabinet for approving its sub-committee's review of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill.

The Coalition said it leant of the cabinet approval from the Monday November 9, 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic and that reliable sources in Government had confirmed that indeed, Cabinet, at its last meeting, did approve the sub-committee?s review of the RTI Bill.

In a statement to the press, the RTI Coalition said that the passage of a RTI law will no doubt promote open, transparent and accountable governance that is crucial for the country's growing democracy.

It therefore urged government to act expeditiously in ensuring that the Bill is laid before Parliament during this session and passed into law without further delay. It also called on members of Parliament to commit themselves to undertaking a thorough and comprehensive review of the Bill when it is laid before Parliament, guided solely by the public will and not partisan considerations.

In doing so, the Coalition hopes that Parliament will give serious consideration to the proposals submitted by various stakeholders in society and ensure that the Bill reflects national sentiments and values in accordance with the spirit of the national Constitution and international human right norms and best practice.

The statement further encouraged the public to be vigilant and participate actively in the legislative process of the Bill, which seeks to serve the people and empower them as the sovereign of the land. It is only through a mass participatory approach, it stressed, that the public can safeguard the Bill against the potential dangers in it and avoid the pitfalls of enacting a weak right to information law that eventually undermines the exercise and full enjoyment of the citizen?s fundamental right to access information in Ghana.

"At this stage, it is critical that the general public lends its support to the passage of an effective right to information law by contributing to the debate and making substantive input into this law so as to ensure that it is of maximum benefit to the public and nation. This can only be achieved when all Ghanaians are all determined to promote national interests over partisanship by taking a critical but balanced approach during the final process of the passage of the Bill into law."

They reiterated their call on government to take urgent and effective steps to ensure that record keeping in government and public institutions becomes an established and meaningful way of life and culture even before the Bill is passed into law and asked Government not to wait until the law is passed before doing this since obligations pertaining to this role already exist in the PRAAD law. "This is essential to any efficient system of public administration,"they added.

The absence of a RTI law, the Coalition said cannot be an excuse for the continued inefficient and poor record keeping in our public institutions; yet conversely, the absence of proper record systems can seriously undermine any RTI legislation and as much must be given urgent attention by Government.