General News of Wednesday, 7 March 2018

Source: atinkaonline.com

NPP, NDC guilty of playing ‘political football’ with RTI - Inusah Fuseini

Inusah Fuseini, NDC Member of Parliament for Tamale North Inusah Fuseini, NDC Member of Parliament for Tamale North

Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has stated that the two leading political parties in the country should be blamed for the delay in passing the Right to Information Bill.

The Bill, which seeks to expand the frontiers of transparency when passed into law, has been delayed for several years in spite of promises by incoming governments.

Speaking at the 61st Independency Day Celebration Tuesday, President Akufo- Addo promised that his government will ensure the Bill is passed before Parliament Rises.

“There is, however, one piece of the anti-corruption framework that is yet to be put in place; the Right to Information Act. It would increase transparency and add another critical weapon to the armory in the fight against corruption. After many years of hesitation, we intend to bring a bill again to Parliament and work to get it passed into law before Parliament rises,” he said.

However, speaking to Bismark Brown on Atinka TV’s Ghana Nie Morning Show, the Tamale Central MP said, both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have largely contributed to the delay in passing the RTI Bill into law.

“There ought to be a genuine commitment… both the NPP and the NDC have played political football with the RTI. When the NDC was in opposition, it pushed for the RTI. Now, the NPP is saying they are committed. Let the Bill come to Parliament so that all of us will work towards passing the Bill. The Bill needs to be passed,”