The Member of Parliament for Tafo Constituency, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has publicly challenged Executive Director of education watchdog Eduwatch, Kofi Asare, to provide concrete evidence of Right to Information (RTI) requests submitted to the former Ministry of Education that were allegedly refused.
Assafuah, who served as Communications Director under then-Education Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Napo), dismissed Asare’s claims as baseless during a heated Facebook exchange.
“Prove with facts that you presented an RTI request to the former Minister’s office but were refused,” Assafuah dared in a detailed rebuttal captioned “KOFI ASARE OF EDUWATCH LIED!”
The spat erupted after Asare responded to a comment criticizing Eduwatch, accusing Assafuah of inaction.
“While serving as Napo’s Communications Director at the Ministry for 4 years, how many of Eduwatch’s many RTI requests did you respond to? Zero! Yet, we did not act based on lazy guesses and politico-armchair speculations. Such a walking contradiction!” Asare wrote.
Assafuah countered that the RTI Act (Act 989), passed in 2019, only became operational in 2020 after delays in regulations and institutional setups between the Attorney-General’s Department and Parliament.
He noted that during most of his tenure (2018-2020), the law was not yet in effect.
“RTI did not become usable simply because it was passed,” Assafuah stated.
He explained that even post-commencement, ministries needed time to establish information units, appoint officers, and develop manuals. Crucially, he emphasized that RTI requests are directed to designated Information Officers, not communications staff or ministers.
““More importantly, and this is basic law: RTI requests are not sent to or answered by a Ministry’s PRO or Communications Director. They are legally directed to the designated Information Officer of the institution,” Assafuah stressed.
Assafuah insisted no formal RTI requests were received during Dr. Matthew Prempeh’s tenure; however, there were avenues to seek information.
“On record, the Minister at the time, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO), never received any RTI request from you. What existed were media write-ups and commentary, not formal RTI applications under Act 989,” the MP explained.
He posed specific questions to Asare:
• Which RTI request did you submit?
• Which year was it submitted?
• Can you share a copy of the RTI request?
• Which institution and which Information Officer was it addressed to?
“Until these questions are answered, this is not accountability,” Assafuah wrote, accusing Asare of seeking social media attention through “bootlicking” and “sycophancy repackaged for likes.”
He urged: “RTI is a legal process, not a slogan. Learn the law before lying with confidence.”
Kofi Asare has yet to respond publicly to Assafuah’s challenge.
Source: www.Kumasimail.com
