NCA has acted legally – Sam George

Ranking Member of Parliament’s Communications Committee, Samuel Nartey George says he has no shred of doubt that the National Communications Authority, NCA, by deciding and acting to cause the closure of some 49 television stations, acted in accordance with the law.

The NCA in a statement released on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, said it was shutting down the 49 TV stations for operating without valid authorization.

Reacting to the news and its related public concerns, the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram in a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb said his review of available documents clearly shows that the affected stations did not possess valid authorization or breached their terms of authorizations and that the NCA may have been long in dealing with the stations.

“I have seen a number of debates over the closure of 49 TV stations by the NCA and received a number of calls from media organizations over the validity of that action. After reviewing all the information available to me, without any shred of doubt, I believe the NCA has acted in accordance with the law. The affected TV stations either did not have valid authorizations or breached the terms of their authorizations. Section 2(4) of the Electronic Communications Act 775 of 2008 fortifies this position. In fact, the NCA may have been long in dealing with these errant stations,” he stated.

He reiterated an earlier statement of the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah saying “this shutdown has absolutely nothing to do with the content on the channels. Content regulation is the SOLE preserve of the National Media Commission, Ghana. Any suggestion by anyone that content was a consideration would be misleading and incorrect.”

Sam George further stated that the Communications Committee of Parliament will continue to exercise its role of the sector to ensure that the best interests of Ghanaians and growth are protected.

See the release by the NCA containing the list of the affected stations below: