Ghana elected Vice-President of ACRAN

Ghana has been elected the Vice-President of the African Communication Regulation Authorities Network (ACRAN) at the just-ended seventh Congress of the association in Niamey, Niger, for a two-year term.

Mr Abdourahamane Ousmane, Chairman of the Superior Council of Communication of Niger, was elected President at the congress.

The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, led a three-member NMC delegation to the congress. Other members were Mr Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, and Mr Alexander Bannerman, who is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the NMC.

A statement signed by Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the Commission, said Ghana would host the eigth Congress of ACRAN in December 2015 and, by convention, assume the presidency.

ACRAN

The 35-member association of media and communication regulators in Africa was established in 1998 in Libreville, Gabon, as a platform for media regulatory bodies in Africa to share ideas and experiences in media and communication regulation and also promote the industry.

The theme of the congress, which was preceded by a two-day conference, was: "Inventory of Digital Migration—the Role and Challenges for Media Regulators.”

In a communiqué, ACRAN urged African governments, media and communication authorities and stakeholders to take appropriate measures to ensure that African countries met the June deadline for migration from analogue to digital broadcasting.

For a successful migration, the communiqué called for massive public education to avoid any confusion and misunderstanding about the process and the collaboration among African states.

It said so far, only Tanzania and Mauritius had successfully completed the process of digital migration.

The communiqué dwelt on the cardinal principle of media freedoms, including access to free flow of information, which it said, should be protected in the new digital age.

It called on African media regulatory institutions to safeguard that fundamental right of the people