The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), has commended the National Communication Authority (NCA) for taking nine TV channels off-air for breaching its regulations.
GIBA said it had earlier expressed concerns about the operations of some of the channels and was not surprised by the announcement.
The affected channels include controversial Bishop Obinim’s OB TV, Kessben TV, Clive TV, ECN, Zoe TV, BTA, ATV, Care TV, and Elijah TV.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, Vice President of GIBA, Samuel Attah-Mensah said “…the NCA in my estimation has taken a bold step” but added that “it doesn’t end there; we need to work on content.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”umlQq7UcYnaTBeqUe988iTudxTUao9Hb”]“As GIBA we’ve registered our concern about this situation in a letter that was written to the NCA few months ago. So we’ve been in discussions with the NCA, not to do what they have just done but to sanitize the digital TV space,” added Mr. Attah-Mensah.
He said they were worried about the situation “because you wake up every day to a new channel broadcasting and we are at a loss as to who granted authorization and who is even managing the direction of this emergence.”
The NCA on Wednesday announced that it has taken off nine stations including one that belongs to controversial preacher, Bishop Obinim, for breaching the guidelines under Section 2(4) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775 and also using a third party satellite infrastructure provider to broadcast their programs via satellite.
Meanwhile some Ghanaians say the sector agencies including GIBA and the National Media Commission, should also take action against media houses that broadcast inappropriate content.
Mr. Attah-Mensah said both GIBA and the NMC are worried about the matter but are handicapped due to the lack of stringent regulations to streamline the activities of media houses in the country.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana