In what has become an embarrassing spectacle of official buck-passing, three powerful public institutions under the John Mahama administration have taken the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on a merry-go-round over a report that could shed more light on one of Ghana’s most terrible public-sector contracts.

The document at the centre of the embarrassing bureaucratic ping-pong is the full report of the committee President Mahama commissioned to investigate the terrible contract between the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and KGL Technology Limited.

It all began on April 23, 2026 when the MFWA requested for a copy of the report of the inter-Ministerial Committee that was set up by the President to investigate the terrible NLA-KGL deal.

The request was first sent to the RTI Officer of the Attorney-General (A-G) and Ministry of Justice under Article 21(1)(f) of the 1992 Constitution and the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2019 (Act 989).

The office of the A-G initially did not respond to the request. The MFWA then filed an appeal to the A-G and the Minister for Justice as head of the institution. Then on June 8, 2026, the A-G’s office responded. The response indicated that the Committee had been commissioned by the President and not by the A-G’s office.

“Accordingly, you are advised to direct your request to the Office of the President, which is the appropriate institution in possession of the information sought,” the response from the A-G’s Office, signed by the Ministry’s RTI Officer, Lydia Attoh, stated.

The A-G’s Office, which had jointly led the investigation with the Ministry of Finance, was therefore categorical about where the information should be obtained. But that was the beginning of what has turned out to be an awkward merry-go-round.

The MFWA had also submitted an RTI request directly to the Office of the President in April 2026. Following non-response from the Presidency, the MFWA filed an appeal to the Chief of Staff.

In its response dated June 17, 2026, the Presidency, through Chief Director, Abubakari Wayo, indicated that the MFWA’s earlier request had been answered on May 4. A copy of the earlier response, which was not received by the MFWA, was attached to the Chief Director’s reply.  

In the attached letter dated May 4, 2026, the Minister of State responsible for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, directed the MFWA to the Ministry of Finance for the requested report.

“Having reviewed your request, you are advised to direct same to the Ministry of Finance, which is the appropriate Ministry with oversight responsibility and custody of the information sought,” Kwakye Ofosu’s letter stated.

Acting on the advice from the Office of the President, the MFWA took its RTI request to the Ministry of Finance on July 1, 2026. In the request to the Ministry of Finance, the MFWA specifically explained that the Presidency had identified the ministry as the custodian of the report.

The Ministry of Finance refused to respond to both the original request and a subsequent appeal.  Left with no option, the MFWA took the matter to the Right to Information Commission.

In a letter dated October 20, 2026, addressed to the Executive Secretary of the RTI Commission (RTIC), the Ministry of Finance delivered the most revealing response yet.

Contrary to the Presidency’s earlier assertion, the Ministry of Finance told the RTIC that the report was neither held by it nor under its custody.

“The Ministry wishes to clarify that the requested report is neither held by nor under the custody of the Ministry,” the letter, signed by the ministry’s Chief Director, Patrick Nomo, stated.

The Chief Director’s letter further stated that the Office of the President was the institution best placed to establish the report’s status and availability. In effect, the Ministry of Finance sent the MFWA straight back to the institution that had referred it to the Finance Ministry in the first place.

Perhaps even more revealing is the Finance Ministry’s acknowledgement that it failed to respond appropriately to the initial RTI application. In its October 20 letter, the ministry admitted that the applicant should have been formally informed of its position within the statutory period.

“The Ministry, however, acknowledges that the applicant ought to have been formally advised of our position within the prescribed statutory period.” The letter from the Ministry of Finance to RTIC said. It went on to describe the Ministry’s failure as an administrative omission, expressed regret and promised to strengthen its internal processes.

The contradictions could hardly be clearer: The A-G says the report is with the Office of the President. The Office of the President says, no, the report is with the Ministry of Finance. Ministry of Finance says, no, the report is with the Office of the President.

The development leaves one wondering how a government can commission an investigation, act on its findings, but leave its own institutions unable to identify who holds the resulting report? It also raises serious questions about government’s commitment to transparency, and the constitutional right of citizens to access information held by public institutions.

Background

Following The Fourth Estate’s investigations, President Mahama directed the Attorney-General and the finance minister in December 2025 to establish a joint technical committee to review the NLA-KGL contract. In April 2026, the government disclosed that the committee had concluded that the existing NLA-KGL deal was not financially advantageous to the Republic.

President Mahama subsequently directed that the agreements be renegotiated to secure better financial benefits for Ghana.

Although President Mahama ordered an expeditious renegotiation of the deal in April 2026, a new deal is yet to be finalised despite an emphatic promise by the Minister for Finance in October that a new contract was going to be in place in the same month (October, 2026).