Radio Gold, XYZ shut down unfair treatment – GJA

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has condemned the timing of the decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to shut down Radio Gold and Radio XYZ.

President of the association, Mr Roland Affail Monney said, ”the GJA is not courted to support the action of the NCA to close down the two Accra-based radio stations for a number of reasons”

Officials of the NCA stormed the premises of the stations mentioned supra with armed security personnel and ordered their immediate closure on Thursday.

The two stations were handed letters detailing the reasoning behind the order and asked to re-apply for a fresh license if they still wished to operate as Frequency Modulation (FM) radio stations.

But GJA President believes ”the action of the NCA has the tendency to undermine media freedom in Ghana as enshrined under Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution.”

According to him, the timing of the decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to shut down Radio Gold and Radio XYZ was wrong and an unfair treatment.

“The GJA has considered the directive by the National Communication Authority (NCA) to Network Broadcasting Company and XYZ Broadcasting Limited, operators of Radio Gold 90.5 FM and Radio XYZ 93.1 FM, respectively, to shut down for operating without authorisation. According to the NCA, the authorisation of the two Accra-based radio stations to operate had long expired for which reason they must cease operating the FM radio stations until they have renewed their authorisation. In so directing, the NCA made reference to the decision by the Electronic Communication Tribunal in the case of Ghana Independence Broadcasting Association v National Communications Authority (Appeal No. ECT/APP/002/2017) and other laws to buttress its decision.

“The GJA believes it is within the mandate of the NCA to apply the law on frequency authorisation. And as a body that upholds the rule of law and champions same, the GJA appreciates any decision in that regard by any person or authority for the purposes of ensuring sanity in the system. So, under normal circumstances, we will not be ruffled by the decision of a regulatory body to close down radio stations operating without valid authorisation. However, the GJA is not courted to support the action of the NCA to close down the two Accra-based radio stations for a number of reasons” part of the statement reads.