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The National Media Commission (NMC) has categorically denied ever demanding that the Media Development Fund (MDF) be handed over to it or its members to manage. According to the NMC, at no time had it met the Minister of Information or any official of the ministry, neither had it been part of any meeting at which the purchase of laptops or any disbursement from the fund was discussed. Setting the records straight in a statement signed by the Chairman of the NMC, Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, the NMC said despite its 'indisputable' mandate for the development of the media in Ghana, it had bent over backwards to propose a consensual and co-operative administration of the fund �this is a passionate view of the commission". It said the NMC had never discussed the modalities for supporting media houses from the fund because the commission felt that doing so would be to "put the cart before the horse". "The proper thing to do would be to establish the fund legally and administratively before disbursing monies from it," it said. It said the NMC considered the current debate a very valuable contribution to the government and growth of the media and freedom of expression in the country. "However, such debates would become more productive if they were carried out dispassionately and on the basis of established facts," it added. For the NMC, it had made public all documents in its possession relating to the MDF and called on the Ministry of Information and all institutions that had an interest to also publish or make available all relevant documents in their custody. Collaboration The statement said the NMC was ready to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to establish and operate the fund correctly in accordance with the law and proper administrative procedures. "The NMC solemnly declares that it will not depart from the oaths its members have taken or from the path prescribed by the Constitution," it said. According to the commission, it had followed the debate on the fund with keen interest and the commission felt it was in the interest of the nation for national issues such as the MDF to be debated "even hotly" and for all sides and perspectives to be canvassed and respected. It added that it was in order to allow all views to be ventilated without prejudice which explained why the commission had not reacted until now, and was doing so now in order to set the records straight. The statement recalled the announcement for the establishment of the MDF to Parliament on November 16, 2011, in which the NMC welcomed the creation of the fund in a letter to late President Mills on January 12, 2012. In the letter, the NMC explained to President Mills that it had already made contacts with some stakeholders on the possibility of starting such a fund, and assured the President of the commission's readiness to "make recommendations on fundamental issues such as the composition of the management board or trustees of the fund; activities and programmes of the fund; procedures and modalities for the granting of support, as well as criteria for support from the fund". No official response According to the statement, despite other informal contacts, notably with the then Minster of Information, Mr Fritz Baffour and his deputy, Mr Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, there was no official response from the government. "Out of the blue and without any prior briefing, the NMC was invited to attend a meeting of stakeholders at the Accra International Conference Centre on March 8, 2012, where the commission was represented by the Chairman Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere and Chairman of the Legal sub-committee, Mr Akoto Ampaw." The statement explained that Mr Baffour told the meeting that there was no prior intention of "imposing the ministry's views" on anyone, but it soon became obvious that the Ministry of Information had planned to do exactly that. It said the commission's representatives stated their opposition to the scheme being run from the Ministry of Information as that was contrary to the spirit and letter of the 1992 Constitution. It further explained that the NMC followed with a letter dated March 23, 2012 to the Information Minister in which it outlined its ideas on the fund. In the letter, the NMC reminded the minister of the constitutional mandates of the NMC and proposed a Board of Trustees to run the fund. The board, it added, was to include representatives from the NMC, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Community Radio Network, PRINPAG, journalism training institutions, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General's Department and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA). It indicated that the letter went to considerable detail to explain how such a fund might work and drew on the constitution and current historical imperatives for its views and conclusions. "The letter closed by stating its confidence that the Minister of Information, as a recent member of the NMC, will appreciate our concerns and collaborate with the NMC to arrive at a consensus consistent with injunctions of the Constitution," it added.