The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu, has said that the Right to Information Bill has properly been laid before Parliament. Her remark follows concerns raised by the Ghana National Coalition On The Right To Information on the procedure for the passage of the bill. In a statement she signed Wednesday addressed to a leading member of the coalition, Professor Kwame Karikari of the School of Communication, University of Ghana, the A-G said the coalition raised the specific issues of whether the Constitutional process for the introduction of a Bill in Parliament has been complied with and whether the full text of a Bill to be introduced in Parliament is to be printed in the Gazette in accordance with article 106 (2) (b) of the Constitution or whether the publication of the title of a Bill suffices. Quoting provisions of the Constitution, she said article 106 (2) provides that no bill other than such a bill as is referred to in paragraph (a) of article 108 of the Constitution shall be introduced in Parliament unless, among others, it has been published in the Gazette at least fourteen days before the date of its introduction in Parliament. "(8) where by an enactment a period of time is expressed as "clear days" or is qualified by the term "at least" both the first day and the last day shall be excluded from the computation of the period". She said given that Section 46 of Act 792 defines a day as a continuous period of twenty-four hours, the “Right to Information Bill was published in the Gazette on the 19th January, 2010. The fourteen calendar day period elapsed on the 3rd February, 2010. The Bill was laid in Parliament by the Deputy Attorney-General for Justice, Hon. Ebo Barton-Oduro on behalf of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on Friday, 5th February, 2010. The Rt. Hon. Speaker referred the Bill to a Joint Committee on Constitutional Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Communications for consideration and report that day. The time frame for the introduction of a Bill in Parliament under article 106 of the Constitution were therefore met.” The Attorney-General’s response, also copied to the Speaker of Parliament as well as the Majority and Minority leaders, said “The mode of publication of Bills in the Gazette takes the form of printing only the title. This has been the practice in this jurisdiction since the First Republic. It has never been the practice to publish the full text of a Bill in the Gazette though this maybe the practice in other jurisdictions. The date of Gazette notification is printed at the back of the Bill. “The Gazette notification is an indication that a Bill is to be introduced in Parliament. The publication in the Gazette enables an interested person to obtain a copy of the Bill from the Ghana Publishing Company, Assembly Press. “It is after the statutory maturity date that the Office of Parliament is provided with the copies of the Bill for distribution to members. When the Bill is referred to the Parliamentary Committee for consideration and report, it becomes incumbent on the Office of Parliament to invite memoranda on the Bill from the public which is generally done through the print and broadcast media.” In the circumstance, the A-G maintained that “The procedure for the introduction of the Freedom of Information Bill in Parliament and the format of the Gazette publication have met the Constitutional requirements and the Bill is accordingly properly before Parliament,” advising persons interested in the Right to Information Bill to obtain copies from the Ghana Publishing Company, Assembly Press. The Ghana National Coalition on the Right to Information on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, raised concerns with the manner in which RTI Bill was being handled. In a press statement, the coalition said the laying of the bill has not been transparent, claiming also “the critical issue is that the Bill has not been publicized and made available to the Ghanaian population before it was laid before Parliament.” “The Right to Information Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Friday, 5th February, 2010, was not published in the Gazette for a period of fourteen days before it was introduced in Parliament,” the statement claimed. You can read the full version of the coalition’s statement at this link: Coalition on RTI raises issues with procedure on passage of bill Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana