NMC Press Release 22072020

P.O.
Box SD114, Accra

Abdul Nasser Ave., Ridge, Accra
Tel: +233 (0) 302 662 409
Fax: +233(0) 302 666 325
July 22, 2020
NMC’S POSITION ON DTTCHANNEL ISSUES
The National Media Commission (NMC) has held an emergency meeting in Accra to consider issues
relating to the directives issued by the Minister of Communications, Hon. Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to
the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and Crystal TV, regarding their broadcasting channels on
the National Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) platform.
The Commission has examined:

i. a petition from the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)to the NMC dated July 7, 2020;
ii. a letter from the Minister of Communications addressed to the Director-General of GBC
dated June 26, 2020;
iii. a letter from the Minister for Information to the NMC dated July 16, 2020;
iv. and also, a letter from Crystal TV to the Minister of Communications dated July 16, 2020
and copied to the NMC.
The Commission is grateful to the Minister for Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, for
providing detailed explanation of what constituted his understanding of the issues. However, the
Commission believes that any discussion on the matters at stake should be situated within the overall
context of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
A fundamental function of the Commission under Article 167(a) is “to promote and ensure the
freedom and independence of the media for mass communication or information”. Article 167(c) of
the Constitution mandates the NMC to “insulate the state-owned media from governmental control”.
The freedom and independence of the media as guaranteed under Article 162(1) of the Constitution,
encompasses all forms of media for mass communication operated by both the state-owned and the
private media.
The Commission’s mandate to insulate the state-owned media therefore enjoins the Commission to
protect the Board, Management and staff of GBC from political interference as well as safeguard and
preserve the entirety of state-owned media facilities, assets and other resources from governmental
control.
Political control can emanate from overruns on the right of the Board and Management to prudently
manage the resources of the Public Broadcaster in accordance with sound public administration
principles.
It is the view of the Commission that any action by any entity which culminates into limiting or
depriving the media of the use of public resources legitimately allocated to them undermines their
capacity to serve the nation as anticipated by the Constitution.
The Commission wishes to state clearly that the directive given to GBC and Crystal TV by the
Minister for Communications purports to usurp the constitutional mandate and authority of the
National Media Commission and same cannot be obliged under our current constitutional
dispensation.
We wish, however, to take advantage of the current discussion to draw public attention to the
Commission’s concerns regarding the operations, management and governance of the National DTT
platform.
Broadcasting at all material times has involved two elements. These are content production and
transmission. The two combine to constitute the broadcast medium. The DTT platform is the new
technology for broadcasting transmission. It is indeed part of broadcasting. It should therefore be
treated as media to enable it benefit from all the freedoms guaranteed the media by the 1992
Constitution.
Second, it is state-owned. Therefore, it must be covered by the constitutional provisions on the state-
owned media.
Third, it is uniquely positioned as the medium through which all free-to-air broadcast content can be
transmitted to reach the Ghanaian public. Accordingly, it sits at the gateway of public
communications with the capacity to determine whose ideas get communicated within the public
sphere. It would be unhelpful to democracy to leave the control of the gateway to public
communications in the hands of a Minster of State. Allowing politicians to control the gateway to
public communication would introduce vulnerabilities into the constitutional firewalls of free
expression in Ghana.
To put our concerns on the DTT in context, we wish to state that the National Media Commission
has always held and articulated the foregoing view since the process of migration started a little over
a decade ago. In the intense partisanship of public policy debate in Ghana, we feel obliged to
reiterate that this is not only a matter of fact, but also that of principle.
The National Media Commission assures the general public that it is highly aware and alert to the
huge responsibility it bears as the shepherds against any form of encroachment by individuals,
politicians and state agencies on the freedom and independence of the media, and we shall continue
to perform our constitutionally-mandated guardian role with high sense of dedication, alertness and
patriotism.
Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo
Chairman

NMC Press Release 22072020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NMC Press Release 22072020

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

NMC Press Release 22072020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

P.O.

Box SD114, Accra

July 22, 2020

NMC’S POSITION ON DTTCHANNEL ISSUES

The Commission has examined:

You might also like