{"id":623090,"date":"2019-05-21T15:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T15:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"
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\"Nana<\/figure>\n

President Nana Akufo-Addo has signed the\u00a0Right to Information Act into law at a ceremony held at the Jubilee House.<\/p>\n

He is hopeful the passage of the Right to Information Act will help in the fight against corruption in the country.<\/p>\n

Speaking after signing the Act on Tuesday, the President said: \u201cI am very happy that this law has finally been passed and I did make a commitment that when it was brought to me, I would give my assent to it right away. It was in fact brought to me yesterday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed hope that the law will enhance \u201cthe quality of governance of our country, and provide a critical tool in the fight against corruption in public life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President said he opted for a public ceremony \u201cfor you to know that this long-winded parliamentary process has finally come to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Act will come into effect in January 2020 after a budget has been read for the financial year.<\/p>\n

The implementation of the RTI\u00a0 law could cost as much as\u00a0GHc 750 million<\/strong>\u00a0over five years, according to a report by the Research Department of Parliament in 2017.<\/p>\n

This is because the implementation would require the setting up of an RTI Commission.<\/p>\n

Parliament finally passed RTI Bill into law on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, after almost two decades of policy changes and amendments.<\/p>\n

The RTI Bill was first drafted in 1999 under former President, Jerry John Rawlings.<\/p>\n