It’s A Big Lie- Gumah FM Owner On NCA Shutdown Justification

Prince Kamal Gumah, the owner of Gumah FM, has characterized as a big lie, the reason behind the shutdown of his media organisation by the National Communication Authority (NCA) at the instance of the Upper East Regional Security Council.

The radio station, along with three others, was shut down over the weekend with the justification that incendiary utterances of their panellists/presenters have contributed to the escalation of the Bawku conflict.

In an interview, the owner of Gumah FM disputed the allegation as a big lie, adding that his station has been off-air for months now for maintenance.

“My radio station has been off for the past four months,” he said in an interview on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com.

According to him, his radio station is governed by strict rules about text messages and call-ins by the audience as well as panels and presenters.

“It’s a very big lie. My station is interactive but doesn’t allow anybody to insult or provoke anybody. Provocative texts are not read out aloud. When someone calls in and the person tries to use disrespectful words, the phone is hung. I know what happened in Rwanda.”

He said he challenged the Regional Minister, who sanctioned the shutdown to produce evidence of the alleged utterance which he failed to do.

“I told the Regional Minister that if he gives me any recording from my radio station of anything that is against National Security, I will shut the station down. None of them could give me anything.”

Recounting how the military stormed the premises of the media house, he said, “They came in a Rambo style with military…They called in saying they had a letter for the radio station. My radio station was off so the Marketing Manager asked them to meet him at the station so he could take it. When they met, they asked him to open it up and he did. Then they started taking equipment.”

He noted that the personnel took away all the transmissions in the studio and deemed their action an abuse of power.

The NCA in a statement on February 24, announced the shutdown of Bawku FM, Source FM, Zahra FM and Gumah FM, all in the Upper East Region citing Section 13(1)(e) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775).

It explained, “This follows the recommendations of the Upper East Regional Security Council, and on the advice of the Ministry of National Security that the operations of the said FM Stations and the incendiary utterances of their panellists/presenters have contributed to the escalation of the Bawku conflict, leading to loss of lives and property in Bawku and its environs.”

Stakeholders including the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) have criticized the mode in which the stations were shut down.

“The NCA used the wrong approach to do the right thing,” Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director for MFWA said on Eyewitness News.

“Given what is going on in Bawku now and the role of the radio station in it, the shutdown is in the interest of the public. However, given that we have laws governing the operation of media, one would expect that when institutions are making decisions of this nature, they would follow due process. In this case, it is by doing so in consultation with the NMC or based on a decision of the NMC.”