President John Dramani Mahama has issued an pressing directive demanding the quick restoration of broadcasting providers to 64 radio stations that had been closed by the Nationwide Communications Authority (NCA) as a consequence of regulatory violations.
The President has instructed the Minister for Communications, Digital Expertise and Innovation to collaborate immediately with the NCA to make sure all affected broadcasting services resume operations with out additional delay.
This directive was communicated by means of an official assertion launched by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Spokesperson to the President and Minister for Authorities Communications, issued inside hours of the NCA’s enforcement motion.
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Balancing regulation and media freedom
The presidential assertion outlined President Mahama’s philosophy concerning the fragile steadiness between regulatory enforcement and media freedom safety.
The administration’s place emphasises that “requiring radio stations to close down whereas awaiting the regularisation of their authorisation may restrict the house for expressing such freedoms.”
The communication emphasised the important perform media organisations serve inside democratic governance constructions and reaffirmed the federal government’s dedication to supporting their operational capabilities.
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Moreover, President Mahama has instructed the communications minister to work with the NCA to determine “an affordable timeframe inside which the affected stations ought to regularise their authorisation”.
The enforcement motion impacted quite a few broadcasting shops, together with well-known stations resembling Completely satisfied FM, Asaase Radio, and Wontumi FM, all headquartered in Accra.
NCA’s regulatory enforcement rationale
The Nationwide Communications Authority introduced its enforcement measures on Wednesday, June 12, concentrating on broadcasting stations that allegedly didn’t adjust to important provisions of the Digital Communications Rules, 2011 (L.I. 1991), notably Rules 54 and 56, alongside particular phrases and circumstances stipulated of their broadcasting licences.
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The regulatory motion was applied following directions from the Minister for Communication, Digital Expertise and Innovation, who authorised the NCA to impose applicable sanctions after a complete audit revealed in depth non-compliance throughout the FM broadcasting trade.
Systematic enforcement and recognized violations
The NCA introduced that enforcement would proceed by means of a phased strategy, commencing with stations recognized within the Frequency Audit Report.
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The regulatory authority detailed 4 distinct classes of violations uncovered throughout the preliminary enforcement part.
The primary class encompasses twenty-eight FM stations working with expired authorisations regardless of receiving express cease-broadcasting directives in 2024.
These stations continued operations in direct contravention of Part 2(4) of the Digital Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775).
The second class contains fourteen FM stations that obtained Notices of Revocation for failing to provoke broadcasting inside the necessary two-year interval following authorisation.
Whereas these stations subsequently requested inspections, numerous procedural problems delayed the method, but they maintained broadcasting operations in violation of Regulation 54.
The third class consists of 13 FM stations holding provisional authorisations that haven’t accomplished fee of required regulatory charges, leaving them with out legitimate operational permits and thereby breaching Part 2(4) of Act 775.
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The fourth class contains seven FM stations that accomplished provisional price funds however haven’t obtained ultimate authorisations as a consequence of incomplete compliance with Regulation 54 necessities.
This growth underscores the continued rigidity between regulatory compliance enforcement and media operational freedom, with the president’s intervention signalling a desire for collaborative options over punitive measures.
