Pass the FOI (not RTI) Bill Now, NPP/Nana Akufo-Addo!

“...Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has stated that the major responsibility of staff of the Information Services Department (ISD), is to make known the achievements of the ruling government, especially, developmental projects...since the department was the mouthpiece, and communication tool, which sells and markets government’s development agenda, he would not hesitate to fire any staff…who would play adamant, and attempt to undermine the campaign of projecting the achievements of the (NPP) government...”(Unsourced, Ghanaweb, 27 June 08).

“...What a waste! Here we go again. Attorney General Joe Ghartey is spinning wheels. Mr. Joe Ghartey and the “drafers” are constructing Kilimanjaro-size rodent-loopholes in an effort to render the Ghana Freedom of Information (FOI) bill as worthless as today’s Zimbabwe dollar...Get a grip. There is a universal standard…don’t you know?...” (Prof Lungu, 26 June 08).

ITEM: One of the on-going paradoxes of the Ghanaweb forum is that everyone is for a responsible, accountable government. However, few people want to devote some ink to making that vision come true by stridently advocating and supporting a world-standard FOI bill for Ghana. That bill has now been caricatured by Mr. Joe Ghartey as a Right to Information (RTI) bill. Within the past week, we’ve read 4 significant reports on the FOI bill. Not even when Mr. Boateng uttered above infamous, threatening words against public employees who know the difference between propaganda and information did we see a hail of comments on Ghanaweb. But it is all about access to information, plain and simple. Then there was this other report that said that publicly-owned media is being used as propaganda in support of the NPP administration. You get the drift, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Joe’s bill is not a Freedom of Information bill. It will not mean a darn thing. It is a Mugabe version of a FOI bill. Girls and boys, gentlemen and ladies, let us articulate to this important item. Let us draw a line in the sand on the side the FOI bill, on the side of an accountable and responsible government. Can we take a minute to make pithy responsible comments of support just so Joe knows that you truly care? As it’s been said before (and we will say again), a RTI approach is too feeble for Ghana! Come out, Coalition! Be reflective, bold, proactive, and pragmatics even as Joe, Kufour, and Nana are taking all the time in the world to act. Respond to the dud of Joe’s RTI bill that Mr. Kufour is sponsoring. Quickly change identity while there is time. The Coalition for Freedom of Information Coalition (FOIC)! That ought to fit the bill. Misery, is FOIC not easier to say than RTIC any Akosombo Dam day (rain or dry)?

ITEM: One reason Prof Lungu has dedicated www.GhanHero.com to the Ghana FOI effort is that we searched high and low and could not find a website dedicated to that important purpose. Believing that Ghana is bigger than that, that the FOI mechanism is an essential requirement for good governance in Ghana, we decided to put our money where our mouths are. We even produced a song – FOIB, Are You Pickable? In fact, we will go a step further. We will register another website with a new name along the lines we are suggesting on behalf of the Coalition and will even provide initial funding of the site. All we ask is that a responsible “official” of the RTI Coalition get in touch with us and express a serous interest. Visit www.Ghana.com if you must and send us an email with your name, stating your relationship to the Coalition. (We will not provide an email address here - we do not want junk email from Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Liberia, or Ghana, for that matter. Ghanaweb, an email link is enough!).

Which brings us to the next item! In the news this week was a statement by NPP’s Mr. Akufo-Addo informing us that “…if elected as President of Ghana, the passage of (RTI bill) would be fast-tracked within the early months of his administration…” Ms. Mercy Adede Bolus came out with, “It is about time - Thanks so much,” to which Yaw Adu-Otu replied, “…Don't be hoodwinked by electioneering gimmicks…” Nana Awenade chimed in with a request to be patient, noting that “It is true NPP controls the current government, but there are other equally important things to be done. Have faith and believe in Ghana...” Pray tell, Nana Awenade, what is more important than passage of a strong FOI bill now? And is corporate Ghana the property and parochial family trust of the NPP and their candidate? NOT, I dare say! (Others providing comments were Ignorant and liar Kan Dapaah, Mallam, OLIVER TWIST, FUTURE THINKER, joe @ach, and Ato Kwamena, all of 18 comments. Compare that to the “Kufuor Leaves For Egypt” report that garnered 147 comments within 24 hours).

More important, the question for Mr. Akufo-Addo and the NPP is why Ghana has to wait until he is elected president before the NPP will pass the FOI bill for Ghana. Didn’t Nana Addo practically recruit Joe to that position? Why must it be so difficult for them to act on a FOI for Ghana in 2008? And has Ghana not seen this ruse before? Don’t Ghanaians remember how “Zero Tolerance for Corruption” was fast-tracked into “Corruption is Perception” by these same people? Come again, sirs. Ask Joe to work harder! Ask Joe to quit constructing Kilimanjaro-size rodent-loopholes with that joke of a RTI bill that he now tells us must be “qualified in accordance with the 1992 Constitution.” How destitute of critical thinking and wasteful of our time! We are smarter!

In parting, here are 14 Ghana-centered principles on FOI that Mr. Ghartey, the Coalition, and others interested may find useful or supportive of their hope for, and attitude to this important item:

1. Understand that it is your freedom, (not your Right) - Know that “Freedom” is inherent in the person, by virtue of the "Being." A freedom is harder to take away from the person. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe has a RTI bill. But the United States and the UK have a FOI bill. There’s a difference.

2. Historic orientation - To properly orient you, please recognize that Sweden passed the world's first Freedom of Information Act in 1766.

3. No quack inventers wanted (none need to apply) - From 2 above, Ghanaian “drafters” and Mr. Ghartey have nothing to invent when it comes to “drafting” a strong Ghana-centered FOI Act/Bill/Law.

4. Access to information for everyone - Anyone can request information, regardless of nationality, profession, or domicile. (No need to explain why the information is being sought, period).

5. Access is the rule – secrecy is the exception! - All information held by government is owned by the people. Information can be withheld only for a narrow set of legitimate reasons per international law and as codified in national law, not the Indemnity-weak Ghana Constitution of 1992.

6. The freedom applies to all public bodies - The public has a right to receive information in the possession of any institution (government agency, police, military, chiefs, public corporations, etc.) funded by public and private bodies performing public functions or selling/buying anything.

7. Making requests should be simple, speedy, and free - The only requirements should be to supply a name, address and description of the information sought. Requestors should be able to file requests in writing or orally in each regional capital, at the minimum. Information should be provided immediately or within a short time-frame, cost limited to cost to reproduce information.

8. Officials are obliged to assist requestors - Public officials should assist requestors. If a request is submitted to the wrong public body, officials should transfer the request to the appropriate body without delay, and inform the requester.

9. Refusals must be justified - Governments may only withhold information from public access if disclosure would cause demonstrable harm to legitimate interests, such as national security or privacy. These exceptions must be clearly and specifically defined by law. Reasons must be given for all refusals, documented, and archived.

10. The public interest can take precedence over secrecy - Information must be released when the public interest outweighs any harm in releasing it. Citizens should expect that information about threats to the environment, health, or human rights, and information revealing corruption, will be released given the high public interest.

11. Everyone has freedom to appeal an adverse decision - All requestors have the right to a prompt and effective judicial review of a public body’s refusal or failure to disclose information.

12. Public bodies should proactively publish core information - Every public body should make readily available information about its functions and responsibilities and an index of the information it holds, without need for a request. This information should be current, clear, and in plain language.

13. The FOI bill should be guaranteed by an independent body - An independent agency, such as an ombudsperson, a commissioner, or Inspector-General should be established to review refusals, promote awareness, and advance the public’s access to public information. (No minister or bureaucrat is wise enough, important enough, impartial enough, to act as the final, sole, arbiter).

14. The Ghana FOI bill is inevitable - You can bet your bottom NPP cedi that the FOI bill is coming to Ghana. It is only a matter of time, and by whose effort! FOIB - Deal with it now!

RE-WIND - FORWARD: FOIB - Too much, too much, too much, Mr. Political, are you pickable? (Read all about it at www.GhanaHero.com!).

Prof Lungu Tokyo, Japan 27 June 08