{"id":388194,"date":"2018-01-03T11:07:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T11:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=388194"},"modified":"2018-01-03T19:02:58","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T19:02:58","slug":"50-yr-old-tv-licence-law-doesnt-cover-smartphones-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/01\/50-yr-old-tv-licence-law-doesnt-cover-smartphones-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"50-yr old TV licence law doesn’t cover smartphones \u2013 Lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A private legal practitioner, Yaw Oppong, has insisted that Ghana\u2019s TV license law does not cover smartphones<\/strong><\/a><\/span> as suggested by the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GCB).<\/p>\n

Lawyer Oppong also said per his understanding of the law, it does not also border on content<\/strong><\/a><\/span> but owning a Television set.<\/p>\n

Dr. Akuffo Annor-Ntow, Director-General of the state broadcaster, GBC, \u00a0had opined that the collection of TV licenses fees will be extended to persons who consume Television content via mobile devices and applications.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”uGDduxUFS5ewa59qne2PcMaU79tspArn”]Speaking to Citi News<\/strong> following the setting up of a special TV Licence Court to deal with TV license fee defaulters, he said \u201cultimately, the laws will extend to those who consume that content on mobile applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

But sharing his views on the matter on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> on Wednesday, Lawyer Oppong maintained that, the GBC Director-General\u2019s explanation contradicts the law bringing into force the TV Licensing regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is his [Dr. Akuffo Annor-Ntow’s] construction of the law. I\u2019m saying that my construction of the law is that, it doesn\u2019t include anything\u00a0 either than what we know to be TV. My understanding is that a TV is a TV. The description given through the law doesn\u2019t derogate from our understanding of what is television now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyer Oppong said \u201cwe should separate what we watch from the TV from a mobile phone because a mobile phone is a mobile phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further noted that, although the law could be reviewed to include TV content watched on smartphones, the law in its current state does not include that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a law made in 1966 is no more in tuned with modern technology let the appropriate authority repeal it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

CJ sets up special court to prosecute TV licence defaulters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo has set up a special TV Licence Court<\/strong> <\/a><\/span>to deal with people who refuse to pay the mandatory TV licence fees.<\/p>\n

The courts, numbering 11, are located across all the ten regions of the country, and are to sit every Thursday with effect from 4th January 2018.<\/p>\n

The courts will sit from 8:30am to 4:00pm on the said day.<\/p>\n

Police to help enforce TV license payment \u2013 GBC<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0 GBC Director-General had earlier said the Police Service will help in the pursuit of persons who refuse to pay their TV licence fees.<\/p>\n

Dr. Annof-Ntow said the police involvement is to help forestall further challenges with the collection of the fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a formal appeal not only to the court, but also to the IGP because we anticipated that we were going to hit a snag and some people will deliberately refuse to pay. So from where we sit, I\u2019m delighted at the fact that the Chief Justice has granted our request. What it means therefore is that, this is an encouragement for everybody to go and pay the television licence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposition to payments <\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some Ghanaians have kicked against the payments accusing GBC of not providing compelling content to motivate them to pay the fees.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @AlloteyGodwin<\/a>
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