Although the Right to Information Bill has been laid before Parliament, the process has been described by some civil society groups as shrouded in secrecy.

Ghana may soon join the league of countries which have a Freedom of Information Law, expected to aid access to information held by state instructions.

The Bill, which was laid in Parliament on Tuesday, was drafted in 2002 and has gone through a decade of campaigning and many reviews.

Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Briamah, said although it is good that the Bill has made it to Parliament, he cannot vouch for its comprehensiveness since civil society groups are yet to read the contents.

Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Committee, Alban Bagbin, however thinks the progress of the Bill to Parliament is a crucial step towards efforts to "set the legal parameters on how [state institutions] will operate in the information and communication landscape".

He told journalists on Tuesday the House is committed to passing a bill which will acceptable to all interest groups.

Mr Bagbin also announced that Parliament will be coming out with a notice to invite memoranda from all interest groups.

He said it was necessary to include the views of all interest groups in the Bill since that will "develop better the media landscape [and] information system for the country".

"The earlier statements made by officials that the Bill was before Parliament was definitely untrue. It is now that the Bill is before Parliament", he said.

The MFWA and the Right to Information Coalition who have been at the forefront of campaigning and advocating the passage of the bill into law since 2007 say it is important to demonstrate commitment to the tenets of the legislature.

"For Civil Society and the Coalition, while we would wish that we have the law in place, we always argue that we should just have not a law, but something which guarantee real access to information", stated Sulemana Briamah.

Key concerns of advocates of the law in previous drafts of the Bill have been that sections of the draft Bill would delay the process of accessing information between six months to a year.

Also the relevant Minister of a state institution was in a position to determine which information should be given or withheld, while applicants may be requested to pay a fee for some information.

It is not clear yet whether those sections have been expunged in the current draft.

Sulemana Briahmah cautioned government against spearheading efforts to pass a right to information legislation just for international recognition.

He said although Ethiopia and Zimbabwe both have Freedom of Information Laws, these countries are "considered the most restrictive on the continent".

"So it is not just about having something to call a law, but really something that opens up the door for people to have access to information", he noted.

He said government must be transparent and desist from keeping the bill close to its chest.

"If at this stage, we don't know the status of the law, then what are talking about. Are we talking about a secretive bill or an access to information Bill?", he demanded.