LOLAN KOW SAGOE-MOSES & ORS v. THE HONOURABLE MINISTER & THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Introduction

All the seven Applicants are citizens of the Republic of Ghana; and, as their names suggest, the 1st and 2nd Respondents are respectively the Minister for Transport and the Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana The Applicants claim that they bring the present application "in the spirit of probity and accountability and pursuant to [their] civic responsibility under Article 41(f) of the Constitution, 1992."

Factual background

By their application brought under Order 67 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004, C.I. 47 for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights and freedoms and filed on 22-12-2015, the Applicants claim the following reliefs:

"a. An order directed at the Honourable Minister of Transport to furnish the Applicants with copies of the contract for the branding of the 116 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses.

b. .A further order directed at the Honorable Minister of Transport to furnish the Applicants with copies of all the documents relating to the contract for the branding of the 116 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bases.

c. An order directed at the Honourable Minister of Transport to make full disclosure on the contract for the branding of the 116 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses.

d. Any further or consequential order(s) as this honourable court may deem fit."

The grounds for the application are that on or about 16-12-2015 the news reports that emerged from the Parliament of Ghana revealed that the Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Transport spent GHO. 3.6 million on the branding of 116 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses at the cost of approximately GH¢31,000 per bus. However, in some interviews granted by the artist, who was engaged by the Ministry of Transport to undertake the bus branding, the artist claimed that he charged GH01,600 per bus.

According to the Applicants, in the performance of their civic duty under Article 41(f) of the Constitution, 1992 "to protect and preserve public property and expose and combat misuse and waste of public funds and property", they bring the present application for the reliefs set out above. In effect, they seek to ensure probity and accountability in the use and application of public funds. And, in doing so, the Applicants assert, in this application, their fundamental human right to information connected with the bus branding contract.

In their defence, the Respondents raise three main issues, namely: firstly, that the Applicants have not demonstrated that there