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Information Minister Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has debunked the notion that the exercise being carried out by the National Communication Authority (NCA) in accordance with the ruling from Electronic Communication Tribunal to shut down radio and TV stations operating with spectrum without valid authorization amounts to curtailing press freedom.

He stressed that press freedom in anyway has nothing to do with those business people who are using spectrum to make money and yet have failed to validate their authorization from the mandated institution, the National Communication Authority (NCA).

Reports indicate officers from the National Communication Authority (NCA) and armed police officers stormed the two stations, Radio Gold and Radio XYZ on Thursday afternoon to shut them down.

The shutdown happened around 2pm on Thursday at a time Radio XYZ in particular had started a live broadcast of a press conference organized and was being addressed by the Council of Elders of the opposition NDC at the party’s headquarters in Accra.

Responding to a question thrown at him during media briefing that the exercise of NCA is tantamount to free press, the Minister of Information said the practice of media is not restricted to any particular channel.

“Indeed, in accordance to the dictate of the Constitution…you can practice media freely; nobody has a problem with you. It is only when you want to use electronic spectrum and frequency that you apply to NCA for spectrum or in some specific instances frequency…we internet service providers who use that same frequency; we have other organizations like the Airlines who also use spectrum and frequency”, he explained.

He stressed that “anybody who is using spectrum or frequency must go to the NCA for the NCA to give you your particular band to be on and must renew your authorization to stay on that one. If you do not do that and the NCA says that for that reason or now the Tribunal says that you have relinquished your frequency or your spectrum, that is not about press freedom and I think that you all have to help us to explained things to various stakeholders properly; that is not about press freedom”.

He further said that many media houses are operating but without the use of spectrum and frequency, noting the point that these specific spectrum users who are not only radio stations have been dealt with in the past for flouting the law of NCA.

“…my understanding is that there are others spectrum users who are not even radio stations who in time past they have had their own challenges with the spectrum or the frequency that they are using and NCA had to take action on them in their own way and so this is not about press freedom. This is about spectrum and frequency and I think it is important that you who are the enlightened ones can help us to situate the issues and then have a discussion properly on perhaps the law and what the Tribunal says and how we can all tidy this up”, he pontificated.