GBC should be restructured - Ampem-Darko

A former Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), William Ampem-Darko has indicated that GBC should restructure in order to discharge it duties efficiently.

He indicated that the restructuring would see to it that members of staff whose services are not needed are laid off to make way for those at key positions.

According to him, those redundant staff that won’t fit into the new system should be given severance pay and their appointment terminated.

He added that those at these positions should be retrained and drafted into places where they can multitask, adding that GBC staff are willing to undergo this restructuring to save the organisation.

He was of the view that broadcasting has changed from the 90s.

He stressed that with modern technology, it has become possible for one person to multitask and do the work of two people.

Speaking at the second edition of the Ghana Institute of Journalism’s (GIJ) Media Roundtable Dialogue Series, on the theme ‘If Not the TV License Fee then What? Funding GBC and the Future of the Public Service Broadcasting in Ghana’s Highly Commercialised Media Space’, he said that GBC is critically in need of the restructuring to enable it function effectively.

The Vice-President of Ghana Telecom University College, Professor Abeiku Blankson, intimated that this restructuring needs to start from the top, emphasising that “government needs the political will to restructure GBC”.

Speaking as a panellist, he pointed out that as part of the restructuring, GBC has to take a look at its internal structure, which is preventing it from becoming successful.

He indicated that GBC has to address its identity crisis issue by identifying whether it’s a state, public or commercial broadcaster and chart a path with it.

“GBC has to educate the public on it mandate because its role is different from the private media,” he stated.