A Corruption Watch investigation has exposed a number of state institutions Right to Information (RTI) violations and fines.
The institutions include the Ghana Police Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Parliamentary Service, Judicial Service of Ghana, Attorney-General’s Department, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
The report, which also mentioned dozens of other public and private institutions for attracting heavy fines of about 5.6m Ghana Cedis due to failure to provide information requested by citizens under the Right to Information (RTI) law.
It said the investigation uncovered that the Ghana Police Service has paid GHS450,357, while the CHRAJ was yet to pay a fine of GHS30,000.
It noted that other key institutions that had violated the law were the Parliamentary Service, which had paid a fine of GHS53,785; the Judicial Service of Ghana, which was yet to pay a fine of GHS100,000; the Attorney-General’s Department, which owes a fine of GHS50,000; and the SSNIT, which had settled a fine of GHS200,000.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) paid the heaviest fine of GHS1.365 million.
It said other heavy payments had been made by the Ministry of Education (GHS260,000), the Lands Commission (GHS150,000), and the Ghana Audit Service (GHS60,000), whereas the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) owes a fine of GHS100,000.
The investigation further discovered that state institutions had been using taxpayers’ funds to pay for fines imposed on them by the RTIC.
These details were contained in Corruption Watch Ghana’s latest investigative report titled “SAGA OVER RTI: Millions paid as penalty”, which it has released Monday, September 29.
The investigative piece reveals that some key governance institutions, which should promote access to information, are either refusing or failing to comply with the Right to Information (RTI) law by denying access to information requested by citizens.
The report said this refusal or failure to provide the requested information has led to the imposition of fines by the RTI Commission (RTIC).
The investigative piece further reveals that the RTIC imposed the penalties in more than 70 determinations involving at least 60 separate institutions.
The Corruption Watch conducted the investigation over a six-month period from February to July 2025.
In terms of frequency, the Ministry of Education ranks highest with four penalties received, while the Ghana Police Service has received three penalties.
Ten other institutions have suffered two penalties each.
They include the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Judicial Service, the Lands Commission, the PPA, the Ministry of Energy, and the Urban Roads Department.
The text report is attached for your attention, while the full documentary is available on:
Corruption Watch (CW) is an initiative of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in collaboration with its partners Transparency International Ghana (formerly Ghana Integrity Initiative), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), and media platforms Joy FM and Adom FM.
The CW is sponsored by the European Union.
GNA
