President Mahama Orders Restoration of 62 Suspended FM Stations
President John Dramani Mahama has ordered the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam George, to restore the broadcast of 62 suspended FM stations.
Earlier on Thursday, the Minister caused the National Communications Authority (NCA) to shut down the stations for not holding valid broadcasting Authorisations or Certificates of Compliance.
In a statement, the Spokesperson for the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, announced the directive, saying regulatory compliance must align and enhance media freedom.
“The President believes regulatory compliance must take into account the need to uphold and enhance media freedom and that requiring radio stations to shut down while awaiting regularization of their authorization could limit the space for expressing such freedom.”
The President therefore directed the Minister to work with the NCA to determine a reasonable timeframe for their authorization to be regularized.
The affected FM stations include 28 stations operating with expired Authorisations; 14 stations with lapses in their Authorisations setup; 13 stations owing Provisional Authorisation fees; and seven stations yet to fulfil the final requirements for Authorisation.
Among them were two pro-NPP media organisations including Asaase FM and Wontumi FM.
Source: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/
