Taxpayers bear GH¢5.6m cost of state institutions’ RTI fines

Ghanaian taxpayers are footing the bill for fines imposed on some state institutions for failing to comply with the Right to Information Law. This is according to the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) State of Corruption Report 2025.

The coalition made this observation citing an investigation by Corruption Watch published in September 2025. The ‘Saga Over RTI’ investigation examined the failure of public institutions to provide information requested by citizens under Ghana’s Right to Information (RTI) law.

“This refusal or failure to provide the requested information has led to the imposition of fines by the RTI Commission (RTIC),” the GACC report says.

According to the report, “the investigation exposed the Ghana Police Service, CHRAJ, Parliamentary Service, Judicial Service of Ghana, Attorney-General’s Department, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), and dozens of public and private institutions for attracting heavy fines of about GHS 5.6 million due to failure to provide information requested by citizens under the Right to Information (RTI) law.”

The investigation further found that “the Ghana Police Service had paid GH¢450,357, while the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was yet to pay a GH¢30,000 fine. The Parliamentary Service had paid GH¢53,785, while the Judicial Service of Ghana had an unpaid fine of GH¢100,000. The Attorney-General’s Department owed GH¢50,000, and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust had settled a GH¢200,000 fine.”  

However,  the Corruption Watch found that the fines were not borne by the individuals whose actions resulted in the fines. “The investigation further discovered that state institutions have been using taxpayers’ funds to pay for fines imposed on them by the RTIC,” it said.

Nearly half of institutions failed the RTI compliance test

The findings came against a wider compliance problem identified by the RTI Commission in 2025. The Commission assessed 102 public institutions to determine their compliance with the RTI Act.

“Fifty-three (53) institutions complied, with the remaining 49 institutions failing to comply with the RTI Act,” the report adds.

It  stated that the 49 institutions that failed the assessment were advised on corrective measures to strengthen their adherence to the law.

The GACC report reveals that the RTI Commission also received 99 applications for review from individuals who said they had been denied access to information. “Out of this number, fifty-one (51) were resolved through settlement, seven through determinations, while forty-one applications are still pending.”

It was found, according to the report, that the applications represented cases brought before the Commission by individuals who had been denied access to information. “Settlement accounted for 51.5% of the applications, determinations for 7.1%, while 41.4% remained pending,” it stated.

Access to information and corruption

The GACC report notes, “Access to information is critical to any successful anti-corruption fight.” It states that citizens and organisations need access to information to investigate and expose wrongdoing in government, saying “acts of corruption do not happen in plain sight.”

The report therefore identified public awareness of citizens’ rights under the RTI law and compliance by public institutions as important to the fight against corruption.