The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) is heading to the Supreme Court to seek interpretation of the new Legislative Instrument passed by Parliament last year.
The new L.I empowers the National Media Commission to grant content authorization to an electronic operator or revoke same if it goes contrary to the L.I.
[contextly_sidebar id=”di5wctHIC6QvGXjJkPQVEJ0juIYBXGgn”]The Content Standards Regulation 2015 also entreats all radio and television stations seek content authorization from the NMC before airing a particular programme.
But speaking to Citi News, National President of GIBA Akwesi Agyeman said some aspects of the L.I seek to bring back the Criminal Libel Law.
Akwesi Agyeman argued that some aspect of the regulation contradicts Ghana’s Constitution “and that is why we are fighting against it.”
“If you take the regulation 3(1) and 3(2), the NMC will be granting authorization for content whereas the Constitution in Article 162 says that there shall be no impediment to free press and free media. That is what we are asking the NMC to look at but we are not ending there, we are going to the Supreme Court for interpretation [and]to look at the penalties that they try to enforce that if anyone goes contrary to regulation 3(1) he could be fined or end up in prison.”
He lamented that “we all know the criminal libel law which was taken out of our law books, why is that they are trying to bring it back through the back door? We are heading to the Supreme Court and we will follow it to its logical conclusion.”
He also said they had petitioned the NMC as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Communication and Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to have the regulation scrapped.
–
By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana