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Right to Information Law: a framework to combat corruption?
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Dear Editor,
Over the years, journalists, civil society and anti-corruption advocates have campaigned for the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill and argued that the inexistence of the law inhibits people from knowing what is happening in public institutions, and this breeds corruption.
Even though the right to information is a basic right enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, it took decades for the country to promulgate the RTI to provide the legal framework for the implementation of the constitutional right to access information from public institutions.
After years of long winding parliamentary processes, the bill was finally passed on March 26, 2019 and assented to by President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo on May 21, 2019.
The Act explains the procedures for access to official information, and also highlights some exemptions.
From section five (5) to 17 of the RTI Act, 2019 (Act 989) is about information exempted from the Act, which include information for the President, Vice President or Cabinet.
Others are related to public safety, law enforcement, economic information of third parties, personal matters, parliamentary privilege, issues affecting international relations and security of the state.
Just like other critics of the Act, I also hold the view that some of the exemptions raise question over whether or not sections of the law could be a deliberate cover up for wrongdoings of public institutions or governments.
For instance, the section 10(f) in the Act exempts the disclosure of information where “the information contains questions or methodology to be used in an examination, recruitment or selection process and the release is likely to jeopardise the integrity of that examination, recruitment or selection process.”
Despite the use of public safety as an excuse to conceal wealth of public information, the Act recognises the principle of utility as it is stated in the section 17 (1) that, if the benefits of disclosure of the information outweigh the harm that disclosure will cost and it is of public interest, then the information is not exempted from disclosure.
Persons who have taken a closer look at the Act suggest there are too many exemptions that do not provide an enabling environment to assess public institutions and subject them to proper scrutiny to help fight corruption.
Even as public education on the law is gathering momentum, there have been calls for a review of the exemptions in the Act. Those that do not qualify the “harm and public interest” test be expunged.
Meanwhile, Parliament was yet to approve fees applicable to the request of public information under the Act. That must also be fast tracked.
Cinderella Arhinful-Mensah
Student, Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ)
President John Dramani Mahama will be joining African heads of state, business leaders, investors and innovators shaping Africa’s next chapter, at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum scheduled to take place from 2nd to 4th October 2026 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The three-day Alamein Africa Forum is established as a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt.
It is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future.
Co-organised by the Government of Egypt, African Export – Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, it is expected to bring together more than twenty (20) heads of state and government representatives alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Ghana’s President, who on 23rd September 2026 declared Ghana is open for business in New York after ringing the ceremonial closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market will be leading the Ghanaian delegation, to include the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu – Adjare, to the forum.
Other members of the Ghanaian delegation are the Head and Presidential Advisor for Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Hon. Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahel States, Colonel Larry Gbevlo – Lartey alongside key Ghanaian private sector players.
Bringing together leaders in politics, business and policy from across the continent, the Alamein Africa Forum will provide a unique opportunity to shape Africa’s growth agenda by aligning policy and investment priorities, mobilising partnerships for implementation and strengthening financing and investment pathways.
The private sector must become an integral part of Agenda 2063, the African Union’s strategic fifty-year masterplan to transform the continent. The private sector is the core economic engine required to turn the African 2063 from an aspirational government roadmap into realized infrastructure, jobs, and value-added trade.
By Chris KONEY
News
Contractors move to site to begin construction of 120-Bed Trauma Hospital at Bole – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has revealed that contractors have moved to site to begin construction of a 120-bed Specialised Trauma and Emergency Hospital at Bole in the Savannah Region.
According to the Minister, the 16,000 square metre facility will be equipped with modern medical infrastructure to provide emergency and trauma care.
The hospital will have a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Unit, trauma resuscitation bays, emergency operating theatres, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a High Dependency Unit (HDU).
It will also include specialised trauma wards, a burns treatment unit, orthopaedic and surgical units, as well as imaging and diagnostic facilities, among others.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
