ATI Center

Information is power

Article 35 of the Constitution gives every citizen the right of access to information held by the State. The Commission makes sure public institutions honour it.

Apply for a review Track a request

How a review works

From your request to a ruling

Ask the public institution first. If it refuses, ignores you or gives you less than you asked for, the Commission reviews it — and every review ends in a ruling.

Step 1 of 9
You ask the public body
Your request for information goes first to the body that holds it.
Who acts: You21 days for the body to decide
Step 2 of 9
Refused, ignored or incomplete
No answer in time, a refusal, only part of it, or a correction refused.
Who acts: The public body
Step 3 of 9
You apply to the Commission for review
Online, by letter or at any of our offices — with your request and proof of service.
Who acts: You30 days from the body's decision* Default timeline — to be confirmed
Tell us which body, what you asked for and what went wrong. Attach proof of citizenship, the original request and proof it was served, and the body's response if there was one. Apply within 30 days of the body's decision; if you are later than that, say why and the Commission will consider it. Reviews cannot be filed anonymously.
What is issued
- Your reference, on screen and by SMS or e-mail
Step 4 of 9
Assessment
An ATI officer checks that the Commission can take it up.
Who acts: Your officer
The officer checks that the body's time has run out or that it has answered, that you applied in time, and that your documents are complete. If something is missing you are asked for it — nothing is rejected for a missing paper.
It can end here
Too early? · Something missing?
- Too early?
  If the body's time has not yet run out, the Commission holds your application rather than rejecting it. Come back when the time has passed with no answer and it carries on from where it stopped; if you do not return within 3 months it is closed.
  3 months held for you* Default timeline — to be confirmed
- Something missing?
  The officer writes to you naming the document. Send it through your account, by e-mail or at an office and the assessment continues.
Step 5 of 9
Notice to the public body
The Commission requires the body to report on your application.
Who acts: A Commissioner7 days to report* Default timeline — to be confirmed
Once admitted, a notice signed by the Commissioner for Access to Information goes to the body, which must explain its handling of your request in an institutional report. The body may ask for more time — the Commission grants that once only, by a final notice.
The path splits
The body reports · The body stays silent
- The body reports
  Its report comes to you next, for your reply.
- The body stays silent
  The Commission summons the body to a hearing to account for the request. You are told the date.
Step 6 of 9
Your rejoinder
You see the body's report and reply to it.
Who acts: You14 days to rejoin* Default timeline — to be confirmed
The Commission sends you the body's report — with a note of anything it has withheld — and invites your rejoinder. You can send it from your account, with documents.
What is issued
- ATI 008 · Notification of Response
Step 7 of 9
Final remarks — theirs, then yours
The body answers your rejoinder; you have the last word.
Who acts: The public body7 days for your concluding remarks* Default timeline — to be confirmed
Your rejoinder goes to the body for its final remarks (7 days). Those are shared with you, and you may make concluding remarks. After that the exchange ends and the file goes for ruling — it also goes for ruling if a side lets its time lapse.
What is issued
- ATI 011 · Notice of Final Remarks
Step 8 of 9
The Commission rules
Every review ends in a ruling — it may order the body to release the information.
Who acts: A Commissioner6 months from lodging, the target* Default timeline — to be confirmed
The ruling sets out the parties, your request, the grounds, what each side said, the issues and the Commission's decision, with any orders and the days the body has to comply. It goes to you and to the body on the same day, and you can download it from your account.
What is issued
- Ruling on the application for review
Step 9 of 9
Compliance — or appeal
The Commission follows up its orders; either side may appeal to the High Court.
Who acts: The public body21 days to appeal to the High Court

* Default timeline, still to be confirmed by the Commission.

Apply for a review
Ask the institution that holds the information first. If it refused you, ignored you or gave you less than you asked for, ask the Commission to review it — every review ends in a ruling.
Apply for a review Find the institution that holds it
Request information from the Commission
Want information the Commission itself holds — its records, reports or data? Ask online. No fee, and the Commission must answer within 21 days.
Request information
Track a request
Follow a request or a review with the reference you were given. No account needed.
Track a request

Commission officers and private-sector stakeholders in a group photograph outside a conference venue. — The Commission at work

In the field

The right to know reaches beyond government

A team from the Commission hosts stakeholders from the private sector for an engagement on access to information.

The Act also covers private institutions that perform a public function or receive public money.

Photograph: Commission on Administrative Justice

The law

What the Access to Information Act is

The Access to Information Act, 2016 gives effect to Article 35. Any citizen may ask a public institution — or a private one performing a public function or receiving public money — for information it holds, and must be given it unless the Act sets out a reason not to.

Parliament passed it so that government works in the open: so that citizens can take part in decisions that affect them, hold public officers to account, and see how public money is spent.

The Act also names the Commission its oversight and enforcement body. It reviews refused and ignored requests, orders disclosure, and monitors how public institutions publish information on their own initiative.

Access to Information Officer

Dan M. Karomo

Director, Corporate Services / Access to Information Officer

Questions about a request to the Commission itself, or about how the Act works?

Decided

Latest rulings

All decisions

Kennedy Muriithi Riungu vs Capital Markets Authority
Determination
Open PDF
Aloice Onyango vs Kenya Human Rights Commission
Determination
Open PDF
Millicent Anyango vs NCBA
Determination
Open PDF

Guides

Read before you start

ATI Reporting Guidelines Templates
Legal instrument · 2026
Open: ATI Reporting Guidelines Templates
Media_handbook
ATI report · 2023
Open: Media_handbook
Simplified ATI Handbook
ATI report · 2023
Open: Simplified ATI Handbook
Proactive Guide
ATI report · 2023
Open: Proactive Guide
Handbook on best Practices
ATI report · 2023
Open: Handbook on best Practices
Reporting Guidelines for Public Entities and Private Bodies Under the Access to Information Act 2016
Legal instrument · 2016
Open: Reporting Guidelines for Public Entities and Private Bodies Under the Access to Information Act 2016

The library

Information is power

From your request to a ruling

You ask the public body

Refused, ignored or incomplete

You apply to the Commission for review

Assessment

Notice to the public body

Your rejoinder

Final remarks — theirs, then yours

The Commission rules

Compliance — or appeal

Where is mine?

Apply for a review

Request information from the Commission

Track a request

The right to know reaches beyond government

What the Access to Information Act is

Access to Information Officer

Latest rulings

Kennedy Muriithi Riungu vs Capital Markets Authority

Aloice Onyango vs Kenya Human Rights Commission

Millicent Anyango vs NCBA

Read before you start

Law, decisions and publications