We’re Committed To Protecting Journalists And Media Houses- NMC

The National Media Commission (NMC) says it is committed to its mandate of safeguarding media houses and journalists in the country.

The assurance comes on the back of the shutdown of four radio stations in Bawku in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

The Executive Secretary of the NMC, George Sarpong in an interview said despite the mandate to protect, it also reserves the right to sanitize the media space for national security.

“We are committed to protecting every journalist and every media house that is doing journalism but we are also determined to clear off all the megaphones of war in this society,” he said in an interview on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com.

He averred that media freedom as stipulated in the 1992 Constitution is meant to serve the public interest and not to destroy the society.

“The Commission takes this very seriously. It is possible for all of us to work toward peace and development…Violence and war cannot be part of the industry.”

On the involvement of the NMC in the shutdown of the four radio stations, Mr Sarpong was tight-lipped.

It is assumed that the shutdown was sanctioned at the blindside of the NMC, bringing the commission under public backlash.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is of the view that, had the NMC been an active body, the decision to shut the radio stations would not have been taken without their knowledge.

“If the NMC were to be active and robust, the National Security would certainly have communicated with them.”

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.”