Martuza Ahmed

Martuza Ahmed (Bengali: মরতুজা আহমদ) is a Bangladeshi bureaucrat and Chief Information Commissioner of the Information Commission.[1][2] He is a former secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.[3]

Career

Ahmed joined the Bangladesh Civil Service in 1982 as part of a special batch.[4] He has served as the Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Noakhali Sadar Upazila.[4] He is a former magistrate of Dhaka City.[4]

Ahmed has served as director of Bangladesh Betar.[4]

Ahmed was the director of Department of Military Lands and Cantonments.[3] He has been the additional secretary of the Cabinet Division.[4]

On 19 January 2019, Ahmed was appointed the chief information commissioner of the Information Commission replacing M Golam Rahman.[5][6] At the time of his appointment, he was the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha chairman.[3] He is responsible for ensuring citizens have access to government information and holding the government accountable.[7][8] In 2019, he said that lack of information was responsible for the spread of misinformation.[9] He linked access to information to citizens human rights in 2020.[10] On 8 March 2022, Ahmed ruled in favor of Saad Hammadi, human rights and Amnesty International activist, who sought information from Bangladesh police regarding cases filed under Digital Security Act.[11]

References

1. "Chief Information Commissioner Martuza Ahmed hands over their Annual Report-2020 to President Abdul Hamid at a programme at Bangabhaban in the capital on Tuesday. — PID PHOTO". Daily Sun. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
2. নতুন প্রধান তথ্য কমিশনার মরতুজা আহমদ. Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
3. "Martuza Ahmed new CIC". The Asian Age. Bangladesh. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
4. "Welcome to Ministry of Information". old.moi.gov.bd. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
5. "Martuza Ahmed made chief information commissioner". Dhaka Tribune. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
6. "Martuza made Chief Information Commissioner". The Daily Star. BSS. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
7. Bhattacharjee, Partha Pratim (2021-06-14). "The republic of BUREAUCRATS!". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
8. প্রান্তিকজনের তথ্য প্রাপ্তি নিশ্চিত করতে তথ্য অধিকার আইন করা হয়েছে: প্রধান তথ্য কমিশনার. Priyo.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
9. তথ্য গোপন করলে গুজব ডালপালা ছড়ায়: প্রধান তথ্য কমিশনার. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
10. 'অবাধ তথ্যপ্রবাহ নিশ্চিত না হলে মৌলিক অধিকার সম্ভব নয়'. Jugantor (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
11. "Police must give info on DSA cases to Saad: Info Commission". New Age. Retrieved 2022-03-17.