Andrew Danso-Aninkora
The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) has called for the National Media Commission (MC) to be made distributors and managers of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum in the country.
President of GIBA, Andrew Danso-Aninkora, said the association was convinced this would ensure proper monitoring of radio and television platforms.
“We at GIBA believe that the distribution of spectrum should be given to the NMC,” Mr. Danso-Aninkora told Starr FM on Thursday.
The GIBA boss was reacting to the closure of 49 television stations by the National Communications Authority (NCA), citing illegal operation.
They include two stations of popular fetish priestess, Thunder TV and Ice 1, which are known to be engaged in propagating the ritual of money-multiplying, which the owner, Okomfo Agradaa calls “Sika Gari.”
The NCA said the clamp down formed part of a continuous monitoring exercise conducted on various satellite free-to-air television platforms using the Broadcast Monitoring System (BMS) and the Radio Spectrum Monitoring System (RSMS).
But GIBA President stated that members of the association were of the opinion the NMC was better placed to distribute and manage RF spectrum, asserting that “after authorisation has been given to the owners, there should be some monitoring as to who comes on the platform.”
Mr. Danso-Aninkora wondered how the NCA came by the number 49 and questioned the kind of education that had gone on between the regulator and owners of the platforms.
“I think what has happened over time is how these spectrums have been utilised and what they’re being used for,” he intimated.
The GIBA boss said the NCA told the association the clamp down was part of the sanitation of the media space, and added that the regulator claimed it began as far back as 2017 but put a stop to the exercise “because there were some issues.”
“The NCA explained that they didn’t have the equipment to monitor TV stations in real-time but now they have the equipment and they’ve installed them,” he stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu