Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has said the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) cannot impose a levy on Ghanaians because it is now a commercial media organisation competing with private media houses for sponsorship.
According to him, to the extent that the GBC has veered off its public service mandate, and become a commercial broadcaster, it cannot continue to levy Ghanaians to pay TV licence fee.
The Minority lawmaker’s comment comes on the heels of the setting up of special courts by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, upon a request by the Director General of the GBC, to prosecute TV licence defaulters.
The courts, as approved by Justice Akuffo, will be located in all the 10 regions and will sit every Thursday with effect from 4 January 2018 to prosecute persons who fail to pay their TV licence.
Mr Nartey George, commenting on the issue on Starr FM on Wednesday, 3 January, said: “Today, nobody in this country who understands the industry can call GBC a public broadcaster, they are a commercial broadcaster like every other radio and TV station.”
He added: “The public service content on GBC is carried on almost all the major private commercial broadcasters in this country. This whole TV licensing thing is being hinged on the public service that GBC offers, but I am saying that the GBC is not a public service broadcaster.
“If you look at public service broadcasters across the world, they do not give anything commercial so the GBC is no longer a public service broadcaster, it is a commercial entity that is seeking to come under the guise of public service broadcaster to impose a levy that it should not be imposing on people.”
Source: classfmonline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
I want to agree with Sam George even though he is obsessed in insulting the elderly.
Say this to your colleague MPs who passed this f000lish TV licence law.... It is just to collect money for the people at GBC to chop... What is the salary of the Director General of GBC? I'm sure it is higher than that of the president. We are copying other countries blindly.... Nobody should pay this TV licence fee. They should start building more prisons to accommodate defaulters...
Oh Sam! An MP who contributed to the passage of the law now saying this.Always keep mute when your contribution will not improve employment generation.
I remember in the late 1990s, this TV license thing was there and I paid it a couple of times for the black and white tv someone lent me to use for a while. But why has it become an issue now? Whatever happened to it before will happen to it again. But charge fee for owning tv set? what do you do with the huge fees you charge on adverts and religious broadcasts? Back in the 1990s it was virtually only GBC, but now it's a 1001 tv stations. Ghanaians always like to copy and we copy blindly. If you see other countries charge tv license, have you taken your time to know why and how?
See this guy !! Was the law not passed by you same Parliamentarians? Hippo-crate. Why do you make a u-turn and seem to sympathize with us. Why couldnt you tell your colleagues what you are telling us? Make we think!!!
BARE WORDS
I listened to you on radio gold and you sounded good on the issue but if only you can answer these questions to my satisfaction, I will vote for ndc in the next election. 1. when was the fees attached to the 1966 law amended?. 2 what did you do at that time? You did not have the Ghanaians at heart then to described the fees as illegal? 3. as a member of parliament representing people, what have you done when you came to parliament and this "illegal" law is there for implementation? 4. when did you realized the payment of the fees is illegal? I cannot get you directly, but your answer would help me greatly. thks.