Legal luminary and Human right activist, Mr. Anthony Akoto Ampaw has criticized the media authorization mandate of the National Communication Authority (NCA).
The lawyer believes that is a contravention of the 1992 constitution which states the mandate of the of regulatory body.
Mr. Ampaw who was speaking on GTV said, the agency which has the constitutional mandate to grant authorization for media broadcasting in Ghana is the National Media Commission (NMC), not the NCA, as is the case now.
He explained further that the 1992 Republican Constitution states clearly that the state shall not be involved in the control or management of media houses.
“So if you have a situation where the Communication Ministry or its agency, in this case, the NCA, is the one granting the authorization for media broadcasting in the country, then it is a direct contravention of the constitutional provision.
But for 20 or 30 years into the fourth republic, we still have the NCA granting authorisation for media broadcasting, simply because the politicians do not want to do the right thing,” he added.
The National Communication Authority has a mandate to regulate the media space to provide a fair playing field for media organizations.
They are mandated among others to; Set technical standards, License service providers, Provide guidelines on tariffs chargeable for services, Monitor the quality of service providers and initiating corrective action where necessary, Setting terms and guidelines for interconnections of the different networks
The NCA also Consider complaints from telecom users and taking corrective actions, Control the assignment and use of the radio frequency spectrum, Resolve disputes between service providers and customers, Control the national numbering plan, Control the importation and use of types of communication equipment and Advise the minister of communications on policy formulation and development strategies of the communications industry.
source: theGhanaianvoice.com