RTI Commission is not one of the ‘useless’ state agencies – Manasseh Azure

Manasseh says he taught RTI Commission will become a non-functioning state institution

RTI commission deserves commendation - Manasseh Azure

RTI is truly granting access to information - Investigative journalist

Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, has applauded the Commissioner for the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng, for putting measures in place to ensure the commission performs its mandates effectively.

According to him, the performance of the RTI Commission has proven him wrong because he thought it would become a non-functioning state institution.

“There is somebody here who has to be celebrated, that is the officer from the Right to Information Commission (Yaw Sarpong Boateng). The RTI is a very instrument. The RTI Commission has so far proven that they are not one of the useless state institutions with their rulings and the things they have done.

“… before they started work, we had a seminar here in East Legon, and I said that I didn’t really have so much hope in state institutions, some of them… when I met him this morning I said you have proven me wrong in a right way,” he said.

He said this at the MFWA's Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship event held in Accra, on March 31, 2022.

Manasseh Azure further stated that because of the RTI, institutions “that were refusing information know that they either be fined or even having their name out there that the RTI commission is dealing with them was not good enough.

“… so, the Office of the President, I petitioned and they didn’t mind me, when I sent a petition to the RTI commission I got a lot of feedback, so kudos to the commission,” he added.

The RTI Commission since its inception has sanctioned a lot of state institutions for refusing to grant members of the public access to information.

The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has been fined GH¢50,000 by the Right to Information (RTI) Commission for denying The Fourth Estate access to information. The Ghana Fire Service has also been sanctioned for refusing to grant access to information.

Ghana’s Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) was passed into law in September 2019 after over two decades of political innuendos.

Though Ghana’s constitution stipulates the right of citizens to access public records, it was quite a logrolling effort trying to find any records pertaining to the government’s activities.

This Act thereby gives individuals a statutory right to have access to a huge amount of information held by government iRTI Commission is not one of the ‘useless’ state agencies – Manasseh Azure

Manasseh says he taught RTI Commission will become a non-functioning state institution

RTI commission deserves commendation - Manasseh Azure

RTI is truly granting access to information - Investigative journalist

Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, has applauded the Commissioner for the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng, for putting measures in place to ensure the commission performs its mandates effectively.

According to him, the performance of the RTI Commission has proven him wrong because he thought it would become a non-functioning state institution.

“There is somebody here who has to be celebrated, that is the officer from the Right to Information Commission (Yaw Sarpong Boateng). The RTI is a very instrument. The RTI Commission has so far proven that they are not one of the useless state institutions with their rulings and the things they have done.

“… before they started work, we had a seminar here in East Legon, and I said that I didn’t really have so much hope in state institutions, some of them… when I met him this morning I said you have proven me wrong in a right way,” he said.

He said this at the MFWA's Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship event held in Accra, on March 31, 2022.

Manasseh Azure further stated that because of the RTI, institutions “that were refusing information know that they either be fined or even having their name out there that the RTI commission is dealing with them was not good enough.

“… so, the Office of the President, I petitioned and they didn’t mind me, when I sent a petition to the RTI commission I got a lot of feedback, so kudos to the commission,” he added.

The RTI Commission since its inception has sanctioned a lot of state institutions for refusing to grant members of the public access to information.

The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has been fined GH¢50,000 by the Right to Information (RTI) Commission for denying The Fourth Estate access to information. The Ghana Fire Service has also been sanctioned for refusing to grant access to information.

Ghana’s Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) was passed into law in September 2019 after over two decades of political innuendos.

Though Ghana’s constitution stipulates the right of citizens to access public records, it was quite a logrolling effort trying to find any records pertaining to the government’s activities.

This Act thereby gives individuals a statutory right to have access to a huge amount of information held by government institutions and public bodies.nstitutions and public bodies.