Kofi Ameyaw, the head of Information, Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations, says the National Communications Authority (NCA) must be commended for performing its mandate on the issue of the shutting down of some radio stations in the country.
Speaking on the maiden edition of Press Pass – a mid-week political talk show on Asaase Radio, Ameyaw said, “…for me, that decision [to approve licences for Radio Gold and others] needs to be commended highly…
“Inasmuch as we would want the proliferation of the media space so that can be able to deepen our democracy, it’s also important in the same ecosystem that the rule of law must be applied.”
He added, “I think that anybody who will try to bring in the politicisation of the action of the NCA is trying to relegate the importance of the mandate [of NCA] and where we are as a people. And again for anybody to suggest that it was a political decision, I don’t see it.”
But Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, a private legal practitioner who was also a guest on the show disagreed with Ameyaw saying, “anyone who is discerning and has been a student of Ghanaian politics will clearly see that this was a targeted operation in terms of the application of the law.”
He said moving forward, “we need to be able to standardise the operations of the NCA. What happened I believe was unfortunate.
“It was heavy-handed; they [NCA] might have been enforcing the law but you enforce the law with an aim to get a reformative approach more than always a deterrent approach.”
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