Counsel for the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, Stephen Owusu, has cautioned institutions against the sale of information requested under the RTI law.
According to him, Section 75(1) of the RTI law clearly states the prescribed fees for each request that would be made.
Mr Owusu said the prescribed fees by law is not a payment for the information requested but payment for the cost of producing information: “The payment is not for the information requested but for the production cost of the information like printing cost, information is not for sale, so stop it.
“If you had any law that deals with the handling of information requested from your institution prior to or after the passing of the RTI law by the Parliament of Ghana, note that Section 85 of the RTI Act has supremacy over any other law on release of information.
“Where an enactment in existence immediately before the coming into force of this Act provides for the disclosure of information by a person or an authority, the disclosure of the information is subject to this Act.
“The right to RTI is a special law that deals specifically with a specific right, which is right to information so what the RTI says stands against any other law.”
He said the rates as approved by Parliament in the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022, (Act 1080) state, for instance, that every photocopy of every A4 size page should be at 27 pesewas, among others.
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Mr. Owusu made his remarks during his appearance on the Corruption Watch show on Adom FM during a Corruption School segment on the show.
The show discussed breach of the law by the Electoral Commission and GMet, who have demanded exorbitant fees for the release of information for RTI requests.
The EC is charging a total of Nine Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty Ghana (GHS9,250) for access to audited accounts of political parties, justifying the charges under the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574), though Act 574 does not prescribe how much should be paid for the audited accounts of political parties.
The GMet recently asked RTI applicants to pay in excess of Ten thousand four hundred Ghana Cedis (GHS10,400) for rainfall and weather data.
“The purpose for the prescribed fees was a demonstration that information is not for sale, the fees are just for the reproduction cost of the information. You cannot use your own discretion to charge any other fees for any requested information outside the fees approved by Parliament,” Mr. Owusu emphasized.
He added that section 75 (2) exempts certain categories of the public from paying any fee under the law. These categories are, personal information, public interest, time delays and vulnerable applicants (request is made by an indigent person or an applicant with a disability).
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