Asking A Radio Station To Pay Over Gh¢61 Million Is Collapsing It

How much does it cost to establish a radio station? A business man worth billions of Ghana cedis, asked to pay such a hefty fine, will rather fold up his business.

No matter which formula or legal regime that was used to arrive at these figures, it simply does not make sense.

Ever since radio gold, started operations, we at The Herald do not think they have made the amount the station is being asked to pay cumulatively.

The action of the National Communication Authourity is a subtle way of using legal means to break the front of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), so that the only story out there for the consumption of Ghanaians is that of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Indeed the 2020 campaign has just started, as the government is bent on suing every means possible to make sure every media house, affiliated to the NDC is forced out the landscape.

Kweku Sekyi Addo, who has built his career in the media and having been given the rare opportunity to chair the Board of NCA, must not be the one championing this crusade, which is an upfront on media freedom.

We agree with the NCA that, any radio station that flouts its regulations must be fined, but asking a firm to pay as much as over 61 million Ghana Cedis, is unthinkable, unpardonable and indefensible. The NCA, could just have gone ahead to revoke or withdraw their licences, because at the end of the day, that is the intention.

The NCA, according to what we have seen is going to bag 1.18 billion Ghana cedis, should all defaulters pay. Has the NCA bothered to check the books of these radio stations, to see if they have the financial capacity to pay the fines?

The NDC, should also get its act together. The party is sleeping, if they allow this cruelty to stand, the NPP, would have won the 2020 elections two years ahead.