Feature Article of Monday, 25 March 2013

Columnist: Boham, Hector O.

Freedom of information act is a powerful weapon against corruption; SO WHY HAS ITS PASSAGE CONTINUED TO REMAIN ELUSIVE TO THE GHANAIAN PARLIAMENT?

On Friday March 22, 2013 in a meeting with journalists at the Flagstaff house, President Mahama made a profound and preeminent declaration when he said I have no fear of the right to information bill.it is not a monster and I think Parliament should pass it. Indeed Mr. President you should be commended for taking such a stand and I venture to even comment that your stand has historical significance because for the past 10 years, the Right to information bill has been languishing in the halls of parliament and with the parliamentarians in both the Kuffuor and Atta Mills administrations exhibiting no real conviction or courage to pass it.

President Mahama gave his governments assurance and commitment to ensuring the passage of the right to information bill and the broadcasting bill. That the passage of the Freedom of Information Act remains elusive to the Ghanaian parliament even the new one that has just been sworn in and is very worrying for the anti-corruption agenda in the country. Whereas this article does not intend to indict our honorable legislators for their failure to pass this all-important bill, we at the Corruption and Fraud Audit Consortium (CAFAC) wish to carefully elucidate the very obvious advantages such a law will bring to our democratic governance dispensation and leave discerning readers to make their own conclusions.

It was President Johnson the American president who when commenting on the passage of the freedom of information act in the US said nobody should have the possibility to make secret those decisions that can be published. The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1966 during the same period of the fight for the civil rights of our extended family who found themselves in America because of slavery. After relentless pressure from citizens and journalists, this groundbreaking legislation was finally passed and not long thereafter it made a triumphant impact during the Watergate affair leading to the resignation of a sitting president - Nixon.

So what are the benefits you and I as Ghanaians stand to gain from a Freedom of Information Law?

1) First the right of Ghanaians to know what our governments, public authorities and private corporations are doing and how public resources are allocated is an enabling power to fight corruption. This is because, corruption flourishes in darkness and secrecy so any process aimed at opening governments and government organizations to public scrutiny is very likely to advance anti-corruption efforts.

2) Second the Freedom of Information Law will promote transparency in government and that will lead directly to the reduction of corruption in government. To explain this point, we shall use the corruption equation which states that:

Corruption = Monopoly + Freedom in decision making(Discretionary Power) Transparency

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Freedom of information act is a powerful weapon