Accra, Ghana//-The Right To Information (RTI) Commission has slapped Ghc100,000 on Ghana Police Service for failure to provide information on police killings to Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a leading human rights NGO in Ghana.
According to a letter written by the RTI Commission to the CHI on May 1, 2023, the Applicant’ request for information was twofold.
The first request for information (identified herein as Exhibit A) pertained to unlawful killing by police officers while the second request (referred to as Exhibit B) sought information regarding brutality meted out to various individuals by police officers across the country.
The Applicant herein is the Commonwealth Human Righs Initiative, Africa Office, Accra while the Respondent is the Ghana Police Service.
The Applicant’s requests for information regarding both the unlawful killing and police brutality were dated 27th June 2022 and were addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, the Head of the Respondent institution.
“The requests did not receive any response from the Respondent and the Applicant deemed same as denied. The Applicant, on 27th September 2022, sent a follow-up letter to the Respondent regarding its initial application on the police brutality”, the letter reads.
This follow-up letter is identified as Exhibit C. The Applicant, again, did not receive any response from the Respondent institution, hence the instant application to the Right to Information Commission (The Commission).
The application for review made to the Commission by the Applicant was dated 28n October 2022 and it is identified as Exhibit D. The Commission wrote to the Respondent in a letter dated 14th November 2022 asking for its reasons for denying the Applicant’s request for information.
As of the date of this determination by the Commission, the Respondent has failed, refused and/or neglected to respond to the Commission’s request.
Below is the letter attached file:///Users/masahudu/Downloads/RTI%20Commission%20fined%20Ghana%20Police%20Service%20for%20refusing%20to%20release%20information%20to%20CHRI,%20Africa%20Office%20(1).pdf