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Radio Gold & Radio XYZ closure : NCA lacks good judgement - Lawyer

By Justice Kofi Bimpeh
Martin Kpebu
Martin Kpebu
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Private legal practitioner, Lawyer Martin Kpebu says the National Communications Authority, NCA lacks good judgement in its decision to close down Radio Gold and Radio XYZ.

The NCA on May 9 shut down two Accra base radio stations, Radio Gold 90.5 FM and Radio XYZ 93.1 FM.

According to reports, officials from the NCA and the Ghana Police Service went there to halt operations of the two stations.

A statement issued by the NCA said the Authority is shutting down radio stations operating without valid authorisations.

"Radio stations operating without valid authorisations as determined by the 2017 FM Broadcasting Audit are being shut down with immediate effect as an enforcement action in view of the decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal."

But expressing his views on the action by the NCA on Joy FM, Martin Kpebu said it is not every law you will have to enforce to the latter especially when it does not conform with natural laws.

He said, " some of them (laws) you have to exercise tact, good judgement but I find that lacking in this particular case (NCA shutdowns)".

Martin Kpebu further stated that the NCA does not understand its own laws.

"The NCA even didn't understand the law, when they went to court they lost."

"I panicked for the first time when I heard the shutdown. Already the country was heating up with Ofosu Ampofo's case," he added.

Haruna Iddrisu to drag NCA to Parliament

Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu says he will drag the National Communications Authority, NCA to parliament for questioning on the closure of Radio Gold and Radio XYZ on Thursday, May 9.

Speaking on Joy FM's news analysis show 'Newsfile' Minority leader in parliament, Haruna Iddrisu said they have the mandate to request for the NCA to give the same profile they provided on Radio Gold for all the radio stations operating in Ghana from 1995.
"There are a lot of radio stations that are unauthorized but why are you closing only this two, Radio Gold and Radio XYZ which are labelled NDC stations."

"The only way the NCA can explain itself is to show that the sanction wasn't applied to only these two radio stations but others too," he added.

According to Haruna Iddrisu, he will file a question demanding details on all the defaulting radio stations in Ghana from the Communications Authority.

"On parliament's first seating I will file a question demanding these details to enrich the jurisprudence of Ghana."

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