NMC ‘stops’ Ursula from reducing GBC, Crystal TV channels

The National Media Commission has prevented the Ministry of Communications from limiting the channels of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and Crystal TV on Ghana’s Digital Terrestrial Television platform.

According to the NMC, the directive seems to be usurping its mandate, hence cannot endorse it since it’s against the country’s constitution.

“The Commission wishes to state clearly that the directive given to GBC and Crystal TV by the Minister for Communications purports to usurp the constitutional mandate and authority of the National Media Commission and same cannot be obliged under our current constitutional dispensation,” NMC said in a statement signed by its Chairman, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo.

Background

The Minister for Communication, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in a June 26 letter directed the GBC to reduce its channels from six to three.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful defended the order to GBC noting that it had become unsustainable for the government to be covering the cost of GBC’s channels on the National Digital Terrestrial Television platform.

“If we are going to hand that cost completely to the broadcasting channels at this time when there is a general business slowdown… we will have a problem because, on the basis of the figures I have seen, you will be unable to pay for the cost of hosting the platform,” she explained.

The Minority in Parliament, however, lambasted the Communications Minister over the decision.

It said the request from the Communications Ministry was unlawful because it did not have the remit to take such a decision.