Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has intervened to halt the planned shutdown of 64 radio stations across the country by the National Communications Authority (NCA), following allegations of regulatory violations.
In a public notice issued on June 12, the NCA had directed the affected stations to suspend broadcasting, acting on a directive from Sam Nartey George, Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation.
The NCA cited a series of non-compliance issues under the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 1991).
The breaches fell into four main categories:
1. Operating with expired authorisations after being ordered to stop;
2. Broadcasting despite licence revocation for failing to commence operations within the required timeframe;
3. Incomplete payment of authorisation fees despite provisional approvals; and
4. Inability to fulfil the full conditions for final authorisation after partial payment.
However, the closure directive sparked national concern about press freedom, prompting President Mahama to order an immediate reversal.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the president stressed the importance of protecting the media landscape.
“President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation to liaise with the National Communications Authority to immediately restore the broadcasts of the 64 radio stations affected by the regulator’s action.”
“The president believes that regulatory compliance must be balanced with the need to uphold and promote media freedom, and that requiring radio stations to shut down while awaiting regularisation of their authorisation could limit the space for expressing such freedoms,” the statement added.
Mahama’s decision has received applause from media advocates, including the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), which issued a statement on Friday commending his swift intervention.
The GJA acknowledged that while the stations may have breached regulations, the blanket shutdown would have had significant ramifications.
“The association warned that shutting down the affected radio stations, regardless of their offences, would have had grave social and economic consequences on the country.”
Furthermore, the GJA underscored that such action would be a serious blow to media freedom and freedom of expression, core tenets of Ghana’s democratic framework.
As part of its recommendations, the association urged the NCA to disclose the identities of the affected stations publicly:
“The association encouraged the affected stations to take advantage of the moratorium to regularise their operations.”
“It also appealed to the NCA to publicly disclose the names of the affected stations to ensure transparency and accountability in the compliance process.”
