Member of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) Kwame Jantuah has slammed owners of radio station who have accused the National Communication Authority, NCA, of imposing harsh fines on them for failure to renew their licenses.
The authority suspended licenses of several radio stations including Hello FM, XYZ, Montie FM, Radio Gold and others, for failing to respect the service agreement between them and the authority over their operating responsibilities
The regulator sanctioned the 131 radio stations running into thousands of Cedis as prescribed under Sections 13 of the Electronic Communications Act 2009.
13 of them were however issued with reprieves pertaining to the law.
Section 13 of the Electronics Communications Act (2009), Act 775 states among others that “the Authority may suspend or revoke a license or a frequency authorisation where
(a) The license or the authorisation holder has failed to comply materially with any of the provisions of this Act, Regulations or the terms and conditions of its license or frequency authorization
(b) The licensee or the authorisation holder has failed to comply materially with a lawful direction of the Authority,
The Minority group in Parliament denounced the decision and described it as not only draconian but an attack on free expression
“We are deeply troubled by this development which has grave implications for press freedom and media pluralism.These actions by the NCA threaten to roll back the gains made so far in entrenching a vibrant media cultureâ€
Speaking on a news analysis program, Mr. Jantuah questioned the wisdom in the minority’s statement and wondered how lawmakers would be encouraging a violation of the very law they themselves passed.
He said those pleading for the radio stations to be reinstated are only setting a bad precedence which would only come back to haunt everyone.
“If you have radio stations that are not abiding to the rules, are they not stealing the spectrum?â€
Mr. Jantuah however pleaded with the NCA to call the stations to re-negotiate the “quantum†slapped on the defaulting stations.
Managing Editor of the Crusading Guide newspaper Kweku Baako appealed to the NCA to have a look at the fines, so something is done about it. Inasmuch as he agrees the sanctions are part of the law as required, he believes the stations are unable to pay and the only way out is for them to be given a clean bill of health so the necessary thing is done by them.