Ghana
| Author | Kofi Kumado |
| Pages | 175-208 |
GUANA
BY
KOFI
KUMADO
ntil
the
return
to
constitutional rule
in
January 1993,
the
electronic
media were entirely owned
and
operated
by the
state through
the
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
(GBC).
The GBC was the
only
entity permitted
by law to
engage
in
broadcasting.
The
chief executive
and
other
staff
(administrative
and
technical)
of
the GBC
were appointed
by the
government through
the
Ministry
of
Infor-
mation.
The
corporation
had a
board
of
directors whose members were
also
appointed
by the
government.
The
chief
executive,
the
board
mem-
bers,
and all
categories
of
staff
could
be
dismissed
by the
government.
Control exercised over
the GBC by
successive governments
—
both
pre-
and
post-independence
—
meant that,
in its
radio
and
television pro-
grams,
the GBC
operated
as the
mouthpiece
of the
government
of the
day.
The
chilling
effect
of
governmental control over
the GBC is
best captured
in the
words
of an
official
report
of a
committee
set up by the
government
of
the
Provisional National
Defence
Council (PNDC), which existed
from
31
December 1981
to 6
January 1993.
In
paragraph
188 of its
report,
the
committee
noted:
As
things stand now, there
is
direct governmental (Ministerial) interfer-
ence
in or
control
of the
operations
of the
press. Editors
and
reporters
are
appointed
by the
Ministry
of
Information,
and
they
see
themselves
as
civil
servants
and
feel
constrained
in
carrying
out
their professional
func-
tion consistent with
the
highest professional standards possible. This
175
u
A.
OWNERSHIP
AND
REGULATION
OF
THE
MASS MEDIA
i)
Locally Owned Mass
Media
a)
Electronic
Media
ministerial power
of
appointment
and
dismissal
of
reporters
and
govern-
mental interference
in
media activities have greatly contributed
to the
erosion
of
the
freedom
and
independence
of the
press
and
media
in
Ghana.1
The
GBC's monopoly over broadcasting
was
broken
in
1994. Embold-
ened
by the
more liberal constitutional framework introduced
by the
1992
Fourth Republic Constitution,
a
number
of
individuals began
to
exert
pressure
for
frequencies
to be
allocated
to
private broadcasters.
Events
took
a
dramatic turn when
a
private company, Independent
Media Corporation
of
Ghana
(IMCG),
began
a
radio broadcasting test
on
a
frequency
for
which
it had not
received
official
allocation. Though
the
government moved
in
swiftly
to
shut down
the
station (RADIO EYE),
it
was
clearly
the
dawn
of
private broadcasting. Since
then,
a
number
of
indi-
viduals
and
organizations have been granted licences
to
operate radio
and
television broadcasting enterprises.
Before
1996,
state licensing
of
broadcasting
was
managed
by a
Frequency
Registration
and
Control Board, which
was
established under
the
Supreme
Military
Council
Decree,
1977.2
The
Board operated under
the
office
of the
president
of
Ghana,
to
whom
it was
answerable through
the
Minister
of
Information.
Together with
the
Telecommunications
(Frequency
Registration
and
Control)
Regulations,
J977,3
this Decree constituted
the
legislative
frame-
work
for
state control
of
broadcasting,
both
private
and
public.
Before
1994,
private
broadcasting
was not
permitted.
The
bulk
of the
Board's work was,
therefore,
confined
to
processing applications
for
frequencies
by
nonbroad-
casting
users
of the
radio spectrum, mainly
the
telecommunications industry.
After
the
airwaves were
freed,
as a
result
of the
1992
Constitution
and
the
precipitous action
of
RADIO
EYE's
sponsors,
the
Board began
to
pro-
cess
and
grant applications
for
private broadcasting licences between 1994
and
1996. Under
the
Decree
and the
regulations
made
thereunder,
an
applicant
was
required
to
satisfy
a
number
of
technical conditions relating
to
equipment, operational base, avoidance
of
harmful
interferences,
and so
forth.
A
licence
is
subject
to
renewal,
revocation,
or
suspension.
Three other
factors
have been claimed
to
influence
the
particular fre-
quency
management regime adopted
by
government: security consider-
ations;
the
need
to
comply with International Telecommunications Union
1.
Report
of
the
Committee
of
Experts
(Constitution), 1991
at 86.
2.
Supreme Military Council
Decree
No. 71.
3.
Legislative Instrument
No.
1121.
COUNTRY
REPORTS
176
(ITU)
requirements;
and the
limited nature
of the
radio spectrum
in
rela-
tion
to
potential users.
A
registration
fee is
charged.
The
nontechnical conditions have
not
been spelled
out by the
Board.
However,
evidence provided
by the
Board's practice
suggests
that
it has
used cri-
teria
contained
in a
report
of a
preparatory committee
on
independent broad-
casting, which
was
commissioned
by the
Minister
of
Information
in
1995.4
The GBC
remains
the
only network with
a
national reach.
The
activi-
ties
of
private broadcasters that operate mainly
(so
far)
in the FM
band
are
confined
to the
national
and
regional capitals
and a
few
kilometres beyond
these
centres.
There
is as yet no
public regulation
of
broadcasting standards.
Each
broadcaster
is
left
to
develop
its own
standards
or to
adopt those
of
other
organizations. This situation
is
probably dictated
by
uncertainty about
which body
has the
power
to set and
enforce
standards.
The
uncertainty results
from
Chapter
12 of the
1992 Constitution,
in
which
a
National Media Commission
is
established. Among
the
functions
of
this Commission
is the
regulation
of
media standards.
The
govern-
ment's attitude
to
this matter
is
ambivalent,
in
part because
of
govern-
ment's
fear
of
losing
control
over
the
media,
especially
the
electronic
media. This ambivalence,
and the
uncertainty
it has
generated, have
led to
inaction,
so
far,
on the
issue
of
broadcasting standards.
It was
also
thought
that
Chapter
12 had
abolished
the
licensing
requirement
for the
operation
of
media services. Article
162(3)
of the
Con-
stitution provides:
There
shall
be no
impediments
to the
establishment
of
private press
or
media;
and in
particular, there shall
be no law
requiring
any
person
to
obtain
a
licence
as a
prerequisite
to the
establishment
or
operation
of a
newspaper,
journal
or
other
media
for
mass
communication
or
information.
4.
The
Committee recommended,
inter
alia,
that
a.
cross-media ownership should
be
limited
to
avoid monopolies;
b. the
number
of
frequencies
that
may be
allocated
to one
person
or
legal entity should
be
limited;
c.
political parties, district assemblies (i.e., local government),
and
religious bodies
should
not own or
operate broadcasting stations;
d.
frequency
authorization should
be
granted only
to a
Ghanaian
or to a
Ghanaian-reg-
istered
company with
not
more than
30 per
cent
of the
capital stock owned
by
aliens;
e.
in
authorizing
the use of
frequencies,
preference
should
be
given
to
applicants
who
are
local residents
and who
propose
to
manage
the
stations themselves;
and
f.
applicants should articulate,
in
advance,
the
station's philosophy.
Ghana
177
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