The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), has said their decision to challenge sections of the new Legislative instrument (LI) 2224, passed in parliament to regulate media content, will ultimately benefit the media landscape.
The new LI empowers the National Media Commission (NMC) to grant authorization to an electronic operator’s content or revoke same if the content goes contrary to the LI.
[contextly_sidebar id=”WG5yKIubNwB7lJ0YeiL7iHZt8xCAAG4Q”]The LI also entreats all radio and television stations seek content authorization from the NMC before airing or screening a particular programme.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News, the president of GIBA, Mr Akwasi Agyemang, said the organization was not fighting the NMC but was only voicing concerns with certain aspects of the LI.
He said, “We are not fighting the NMC. We have challenges with certain aspects of the regulations and we feel the best thing to do is to test it at the Supreme Court.”
Mr Agyemang further added, “We feel there are certain aspects of the law that have to be tested. We are doing that for the sake of the NMC itself and also for the sake of the industry as a whole.”
He reiterated points of contention already made my GIBA saying certain regulations in the new LI are contrary to the constitution.
“We are for a sanitised system” he said, “however we must be all guided by the constitution of Ghana and so we have found certain of regulations that have run contrary to the constitution of Ghana.”
“In all our engagements, we have drawn attention to certain aspects that will run contrary to the constitution,” he added.
GIBA is still engaging the NMC on the matter at hand, according to Mr Agyemang. He stated GIBA and the NMC have the similar single goal of sanitizing the media landscape.
“It’s not like we are just going to the Supreme Court. We are still engaging the NMC. We have written to them. We are talking to them and we believe that we all have one common goal. The goal of sanitizing the system.”
–
By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana