The Minority in Parliament has said it is troubled by the ongoing exercise by the National Communications Authority (NCA) which has led to selected media houses being subjected to very steep regulatory sanctions.
A statement from the Ranking Member on the Communications Committee, Alhaji A.B.A. Fuseini, said “while we acknowledge the NCA’s right to regulate the communications sector in a manner that ensures compliance with appropriate regulations, we are alarmed by the sweeping and heavy-handed approach under the current exercise.”
It indicated that the move by the NCA would worsen the plight of the country which already had a great number of unemployed people.
“This will only serve to worsen the precarious unemployment situation and add to the hardships Ghanaians are going through. In the light of the foregoing, we urge the NCA to as a matter of urgency suspend the ongoing exercise and use dialogue and more flexible means to ensure compliance with relevant regulations,” the statement said.
NCA is right but...
Last Thursday, the NCA announced that about 131 radio stations had their authorisation revoked or slapped with fines for failing to renew their licences.
The statement said the situation where alleged breaches of regulations dating back several years were suddenly cited as basis for the near-summary closure of radio stations and humongous fines, posed a mortal danger to the expansion of the frontiers of free expression.
It said radio had become a foremost means of expression by large sections of our citizenry since the liberalisation of the airwaves at the beginning of the current democratic dispensation.
Therefore, it said, entities operating within that space, therefore, ought to be acknowledged for their invaluable contributions to the growth of our democracy.
‘Reasonable’ enforcement of regulations
The statement said regulatory enforcement ought to be undertaken in a reasonable manner that factored in the fragilities inherent in the operations of many radio stations.
It said the current revocation and sanctions regime appeared to be monetising the right to free expression and could be construed as an effort to exact retribution particularly against stations that had traditionally been ideologically opposed to the current NPP administration.
“We are at a loss as to how millions of Ghana cedis can be imposed as fines on radio stations, failing which their authorisation will be revoked only to have them sold to other entities for GH¢30,000,” it said.
More job losses
The statement estimated that close to 5,000 people working in the affected stations would be rendered jobless should the current action persist.
“This will only serve to worsen the precarious unemployment situation and add to the hardships Ghanaians are going through”, it said.
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