Y
es, indeed facts
matter. In fact
they’re so import-
ant that when tak-
ing for grant, they
can be disastrous.
Facts changes per-
spectives.
Facts
alter
narratives.
Quite often during
debates, one can tell which party is in the right
and vice versa based on the facts available. Thus
it is important that facts are stated during the
dissemination of information. As our govern-
ment passes laws, bills and policies or engages
in any transaction on our behalf, how much
of it do we really hear about? With those that
we hear about, how well informed are we on
them? Many of us are in the dark as taxpayers
when it comes to government accountability.
As taxpayers and for the purpose of transparen-
cy, our government must be obliged to account
to us. This can only be achieved with a Right
to Information bill passed by parliament. The
purpose of this bill is to enable citizens to hold
government accountable to ensure that there
is a high level of transparency in governance of
the country. The Right to Information (RTI) Bill
is a bill under consideration in Ghana. Various
stakeholders believe the delay in amending and
passing the bill into law is because of to allow
exemptions of certain vital information border-
ing around government policies which is they
intend to conceal from the public (Akoto, 2012)
(source). Every Ghanaian taxpayer deserves
to know how their monies are invested that’s
why it is important that this bill is passed. My
journey this morning has been nothing but in-
formative and fruitful. We are about 1km away
from my destination but by now, I wish to be
stuck in traffic for the rest of the program. I need
to hear it all, it is important that I’m up to date
with information regarding national issues as
a concerned citizen. If there’s a bill like the RTI
to be passed, it should be treated with the same
32| Colossium . March 2019
level of importance we give to loans and grants
at least in my opinion but I’m neither a serial
caller nor texter to these programs so I can only
murmur to myself and go about my business.
The right to information Bill is implicit in the notion that
the Ghanaian taxpayers need to have access to in-
formation concerning what government does with
their money and what government plans to do on
their behalf (Daily Graphic, July 21, 2017a). The bill
is meant to ensure Ghanaians have access to gov-
ernance or official information from public offices on
request and without request (Boateng, 2018). The Bill
is meant to put in effect, Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992
constitution of the republic of Ghana which states
that “All persons shall have the right to information
subject to such qualifications and laws as are nec-
essary in a democratic society.” (Daily Graphic, July
21, 2017b). However, many years of struggle in par-
liamentary debates and reviews has seen the bill not
passed into law yet despite it was first drafted in 1999
and reviewed 2003 (Daily Graphic, July 21, 2017c).
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