‘Are you a court?’ – MFWA challenges Communications Minister’s 60-day ultimatum to GBC

The Executive-Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has challenged the Minister for Communication for writing directly to GBC to shut down three of its channels on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) platform.

He believes the minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, should have written to the National Media Commission (NMC) and not to the state broadcaster.

“So, why wouldn’t the minister write to the NMC to draw the attention of the commission to the fact that ‘this is the challenge we are having and therefore this is the decision that we are proposing that is taken to ensure that GBC at least gives us one or two of its channels.’

“Rather than writing directly to GBC as a directive and asking them to consolidate all their programmes on six channels, to three channels within 60 days, why, are you a court?” he quizzed.

He said the minister had no power to issue the 60-day ultimatum to the state broadcaster.

“If it is not because somebody wants to show power, everyone knows, for example, that the NMC is the body that exercises supervision and control over the state broadcaster.

“It appoints the governing board, it appoints by extension the Director-General, and anytime there is a vacancy, whether its the board or the Director-General, its the NMC that carries that mandate of ensuring that these vacancies are filled,” Mr. Braimah said in an interview on Accra-based Starr FM.

Government justification

The Minister for Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in a letter to the Director-General for the state broadcaster, explained the move is to free up space on the DTT platform which she argues is full.

Her directive did not go down well with the state-owned broadcaster, whose board has taken the issue to the National Media Commission for redress.

GBC has six channels on the DTT platform, but the Communications minister wants the public broadcaster to consolidate its channels to three.

The company currently operates, GBC News (GTV Governance and GBC 24 merged), Obonu TV, GTV Life, GTV, GTV Sports Plus, and Ghana Learning TV.

The Minority, through its member on Parliament’s Communications Committee, criticized the government over the directive to GBC.

They have accused the minister of stampeding the work of the state broadcaster.

But speaking to the media, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said she was operating within her rights to free up space on the DTT platform.

According to her, the NMC cannot compel the ministry to take back the directive.

“Pending the acquisition of an additional multiplex which will provide for more capacity on that and it has absolutely nothing to do with spectrum…it is the multiplex which has capacity challenges and not spectrum and until such time as we acquire an additional multiplex to provide channels for broadcasting in this country.

“We have no other means of doing so and so a responsible ministry in a responsible government has taken the only means available to it at this time to sit with those who have excess capacity on that multiplex to cede some of it for the security of our own state,” she said.