President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, has refused to respond to a Right to Information (RTI) request submitted to his office seeking information on the current state of the determination of Article 71 emoluments for the period 2021 to 2025 (the second term administration of the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration).
The application was submitted to the office of the president on Tuesday, 7 October 2025. The application essentially requested information regarding the implementation of the Article 71 emoluments determination made by Parliament and the President for the period from January 7, 2021, to January 6, 2025.
Even though a public institution under section 23 (1) of the Right To Information Act, 2019, (989) is required to determine such an application and communicate its decision within 14 days after receiving the application, the presidency has failed to do so after 22 days of receipt of the application.
The applicant, after the expiry of the allowed 14 days, followed up on Friday, 24 October 2025, with an application for internal review of the refusal under section 32 of the RTI Act. As of Thursday, 30 October 2025, there has been no response to the main RTI request and the application for internal review.
In the application for internal review, the applicant provided four grounds on which he believes the presidency ought to act on his request. The first was that “the Office of the President failed to comply with the statutory obligation under section 23(1) to determine and communicate a decision within fourteen (14) days of receipt.
Second, “the deemed refusal contravenes the right to information guaranteed under Article 21(1)(f) of the 1992 Constitution. Third, “the requested information concerns public expenditure and the implementation of constitutional emoluments under Article 71, which are matters of clear public interest and not subject to exemption under Act 989.
Lastly, “the failure to provide the information undermines the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility that govern the exercise of executive authority.” The applicant, to this end, sought three reliefs from the President and his office in the application for internal review.
The applicant requested that the office of the president reverse “the deemed refusal” of his application and “issue a decision in accordance with section 33 of Act 989.”
The subsequent request of the applicant to the president was that he respond to the specific questions contained in his RTI request of 7 October 2025, namely:
- Whether the former president has received the emoluments determined by Parliament for the period January 2021 – January 2025.
- Whether the former vice president has received his determined emoluments for the same period;
- Whether the former Chairman and Members of the Council of State have been paid their determined emoluments.
- Whether former Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State have been paid their determined emoluments; and
- Whether former government appointees and other Article 71 office holders have received their determined emoluments for the period;
- Including, in each case, the dates of payment or expected timelines for payment.
Lastly, provide any related correspondence, releases, or approvals from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) regarding the implementation of these payments.
The applicant reminded the President that “under section 33 of the RTI Act 989, the Office of the President is required to determine this internal review as soon as is reasonably practicable, but in any event within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this application.”
“If no decision is communicated within this statutory period, I shall exercise my right under section 65 of Act 989 to apply to the Right to Information Commission for redress, without further recourse to the Office of the President.
“I trust that the Office of the President will, in keeping with its constitutional obligation, demonstrate leadership in upholding transparency and accountability in matters of public expenditure,” the internal review application concluded.
The applicant made a similar request to Parliament on 7 October 2025 and received a response on 14 October 2025. The reaction by Parliament, signed by Camillo Pwamang, Deputy Clerk, LMS, confirmed that Parliament transmitted the formal determination of Article 71 emoluments made at its 399th sitting on 6 January 2025 to the President on the same date.
In response to whether the former President and his appointees had received their due emoluments, Parliament stated that, “Parliament has not received confirmation from either the Ministry of Finance or the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) regarding the implementation of the Article 71 Emolument determined by Parliament for the period January 2021 to January 2025.”
“Parliament has, however, received releases from the CAGD reflecting the emoluments determined by the President for the same period,” the Parliamentary response to the applicant’s request noted.
This confirms that the Speaker and the MPs have been fully paid, whilst the former President, the Council of State, and others have not received their determined emoluments.
The applicant also filed a similar request with the Finance Ministry, requesting details, the date, and the current status of the implementation of Article 71 emoluments for the period 2021 to 2025. However, just as with the presidency, the Finance Ministry has refused to provide the information.
Source: asaaseradio.com
