An National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawyer and party communicator, Hamza Suhuyini, has mounted a three-pronged challenge to the Right to Information (RTI) request filed by the Minority over the Energy Sector Levy (ESL), arguing the approach is constitutionally redundant, politically motivated, and procedurally self-defeating.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, Suhuyini acknowledged the move by Deputy Minority Chief Whip Habib Iddrisu as legally permissible but questioned its purpose on multiple grounds.
His first objection is constitutional. Suhuyini pointed to Article 187 of the 1992 Constitution, which places all public accounts, including levy proceeds, under the Auditor-General’s mandate. He argued that the Auditor-General’s annual report to Parliament already gives lawmakers the avenue to probe how those funds have been managed, making a separate RTI request from a sitting Member of Parliament unnecessary.
His second objection is political. Suhuyini characterised the request as an exercise in partisan positioning rather than genuine accountability, saying it is “not rooted in any good sense or good questions, but simply politics.” He drew a distinction between oversight anchored in substantive analysis and what he described as political mischief.
His third objection is procedural. Suhuyini warned that the RTI route the Tolon MP has chosen may not produce results any faster than waiting for the parliamentary process. He noted that the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) permits public institutions to defer responses where the information concerned is scheduled for publication within 90 days or has not yet been formally submitted to another authority. Since the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition is required under the Energy Sector Levies Act, 2025 to submit an annual report on the levy’s Energy Sector Support Account to Parliament, that deferral provision could apply directly.
Iddrisu filed his request on April 29, citing the absence of a mandatory report that the law required to be submitted to Parliament by March 31 this year. He set a 14-day response deadline and said he was prepared to escalate the matter through parliamentary questions when the House resumes.
NPP Deputy Communications Director Kamal-Deen Abdulai defended the request, describing it as grounded in law and in the public interest. He argued that any citizen is entitled to invoke Act 989 on matters of public finance, and that inaction by others provides no basis to fault those who act.
