NCA Reacts To Agyenim-Boateng’s Charge

The National Communication Authority (NCA) has reacted to a recent charge by a Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim-Boateng that some persons at the NCA had let Ghana down by overly concentrating media in the hands of a few persons.

The NCA says it has no legal right to limit the ownership and management of broadcasting services because the existing laws and regulations do not place any such limitations.

James Agyenim-Boateng made the accusation while speaking on Newsfile on Joy FM/MultiTV on Saturday on what he called ‘media tyranny’. His submission was in relation to the recent government boycott of the Multimedia network.

He noted that media tyranny was not only about government chasing media people around, but that the media itself could become tyrannical, and that was another side of the discussion that should not be ignored.

“Indeed I am one of those who think that to some extent some people at the NCA have let this country down by overly concentrating media in the hands of one, two or three individuals – I think that is a matter that in the future all of us may have to look at.”

But the NCA in a statement to Adom News said the deputy minister’s comments had engaged its attention because the laws that regulated broadcasting services in Ghana right now did not impose any control and ownership limitations.

The NCA said as at date, it had licensed 249 FM Broadcasting Stations, out of which 211 were operational.

It said the records of the Authority showed that majority of the 249 stations were unrelated to each other, but there were a few instances where one individual or organization had related ownership or control of more than one station, through acquisitions and or management contracts, other than direct authorization from the NCA.

The NCA said the highest number of stations related to one company was six (6) stations, but “in that instance, the organization directly obtained two (2) FM authorizations in 1996/97 and subsequently controlled other stations through management contracts and/or acquisitions.”

The Authority however noted that it supported the idea of setting some limits on the number of authorizations held by one individual or organisation to avoid the concentration of media outlets in the hands of such individuals or organisations and thereby promote media pluralism.

It pointed out that the proposed Broadcasting Bill, currently under consideration, had the objective of preventing dominance by the government or a section of society in the consumption, ownership, management, production or distribution of broadcasting services.

“It must be noted however, that the provisions of the Bill are not yet law and therefore the Authority cannot implement any provisions that are not backed by law,” the NCA said.

The Broadcasting Bill, for instance, limits the number of radio stations that one individual can control and or be a director of to three, and TV stations to two.