14 Public Institutions Fined Over GH¢1.3m for Non-Compliance with RTI Requests
14 public institutions in Ghana have been fined a total of GH¢1,310,000 for failing to comply with the Right to Information (RTI) Commission’s orders to grant applicants access to information requested. This is one of the challenges affecting the implementation of the RTI Law, according to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information. The minister stated this during the Meet-the-Press series held in Accra.
The RTI Act 989 was passed by Parliament in May 2019, enshrining the right to information in the 1992 Constitution under Article 21 (1) (f). The act enables the public to access information from public institutions and relevant private agencies, ensuring they can enjoy the benefits that come with the right to access information as provided by the 1992 Constitution.
While the RTI Act provides for the right of access to information from public agencies, some classes of information are withheld from the public by legal tenets. Some classified information on the Presidency, Cabinet, law enforcement, public safety, among others, may be exempted from public exposure.
Some of the institutions that have been fined include the Lands Commission, Keta Municipal Assembly, Ghana Oil PLC (GOIL), Ghana Cocoa Board, Ministry of Education, and the Ghana Police Service.
According to Mr. Nkrumah, access to information requests have increased over the three years of implementation of the Act with information requests increasing from 50 in 2020 to 382 in 2022. In most cases, heads of institutions who were subjected to administrative penalties were those who turned away information officers assigned by the ministry to such institutions.
The Office of the Head of Civil Service has incorporated the Right to Information (RTI) as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for all Chief Directors. It is now an obligation under the performance contract of Chief Directors to ensure that the RTI law is fully institutionalized. The Information Minister noted that the RTI Commission has distributed guidelines to over 590 institutions, which will serve as a guide to public institutions on the relevant information that shall be contained in their Information Manuals.
The Commission has carried out mystery shopping exercises of institutions to ascertain whether or not the RTI implementation was being executed in accordance with the advertised standards. Additionally, the ministry, through the ATI Division, is working to operationalize an Online Records Management System (ORMS) to enable applicants to apply for information online, aid information officers in keeping accurate records and increase efficiency.