The Minority in Parliament has made a move against the majority to delay the implementation of the Right to Information Bill (RTI) after the Act has been passed for a year.

According to the Majority in Parliament, the institutions of the state needed to be afforded ample time to engage information officers and establish information offices to facilitate the release of information to the public.

However, the Minority also argued that civil society organisations and many Ghanaians had waited for the passage and implementation of the RTI for years and so it would be wrong to delay its implementation when it is passed.

The Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon. Mike Ocquaye has however asked for the Attorney General, Ms Gloria Akuffo to be either present on the floor of Parliament or through writing notify the House whether the government s ready to pass the RTI Bill immediately or after a specific time on Tuesday February 5 2019.

He said laws did not take retrospective effect but they could take futuristic effect.

Arguing on the floor of Parliament on Friday February 1 2019, Mr Joseph Yieleh-Chireh MP for Wa West constituency, MP for Bawku Central Mahama Ayariga and Alhaji Inusah Abdulai Fuseini Tamale Central MP, all of the Minority and NDC were against the transitional provision for delaying the Bill after being passed.

According to them, the government institutions already had information officers and information system to release information to the public.

NPP MP of Offinso South constituency and Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ben Abdallah Banda, defended the proposal for the suspension of the implementation of the RTI law whiles speaking to the Press.

He said government institutions needed time to engage qualified information officers and set up information offices to allow the public to access information easily.

The RTI Bill is to provide for the operationalisation of the constitutional right to information held by public and some private institutions, subject to exemptions that are necessary and consistent with the protection of public interest in a democratic society.

It also seeks to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs and to provide for related matters.

The RTI Bill was first drafted in 1999, reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was only presented to Parliament in 2010. It was brought back to the Sixth Parliament but could not be passed till the expiration of that Parliament on January 6, 2016.

After months of waiting, the Bill was laid in Parliament early this year (2018) by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joseph Dindiok.

The RTI Bill has passed through the first and second readings and the House is almost done with the consideration of proposed amendments to the Bill after which it will be passed in to law.