Media Commission Gets Own Home

After twelve years of existence, the National Media Commission (NMC) now has a home of its own.

Yesterday, the NMC inaugurated its new office, a building off the Ring Road, near the Immigration Headquarters, in Accra, which was donated by the government. The NMC plans to expand its new headquarters building, whose value is quoted at 3 billion cedis, to include conference halls boardrooms and committee meeting rooms.

The ceremony also saw the donation of ?250 million worth of equipment to the NMC by the German Government. The equipment is to be used to monitor the output of the media during campaign leading up to the December general elections. The equipment includes computers, and computer accessories, photocopiers, television and radio sets, and motorcycles.

The chairman of the NMC, Mr William Kusi-Attansah, said the NMC?s constitutional obligations, as spelt out in the 1992 constitution, needed to be translated into action. He said the fact that this year was an election year reinforced the anxiety of democratic development. ?Ghana proved in 2000 that democracy functions in this country, when for the first tie a change of government was brought about through the ballot box, instead of the power of the gun?, he said.

Mr Linder noted that the temptation to deceive voters by false, unfair and biased reporting was especially strong during elections. It was therefore, important, he said, that a process and institutions be set up to monitor the independence and neutrality of the media in its reporting of divergent views.