This morning, I run into my old friend, Mr. Kabral Blay-Amihere, at an internet cafe in Weija. Kabral served as Ghana's envoy to Sierra Leone, and after that, was subsequently posted to the Ivory Coast, during the tenure of President Kufour's New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime. Such is his charm that it is pretty hard to be unpleasant to him : but in the usual combative way I always interact with that witty and sharp-minded soul, I told him that I did not see why in the digital age, and with a media landscape that has over one hundred and twenty FM radio stations, and a number of privately-owned TV stations, as well as scores of privately-owned newspapers, the state-owned media should not be directly controlled by the government of the day. Surely, we ought to look upon those organizations as tools for national development, which help provide information that is factual and unbiased: and helps ordinary people keep abreast with the nation-building efforts of the government of the day? I pointed it out to him, that when the idea for the National Media Commission (NMC) was first mooted, the long shadow of the days of the culture of silence hung heavy over the Ghanaian media landscape. Consequently, there was a strong desire on the part of all the stakeholders to rid journalism of the control-by-fear ethos of the past: resulting from the heavy-handedness of a brutal military dictatorship that had morphed into a democratically-elected civilian regime. It was that past that made the NMC seem like such a sensible idea then.
Today, however, when democracy has finally taken root in our homeland Ghana, and Ghanaians seldom hesitate to proceed to the law courts to assert their rights when the need arises, should we rather not look to the judiciary to protect the right to freedom of expression: through its interpretation of the constitution – instead of letting the NMC remain the guardian of the independence of the fourth arm of government? Is the Ghana of today, not a nation in which civil society does not hesitate to challenge the regime in power, whenever it fails to follow due process and oversteps the bounds of legality? Is that not why the anti-democrats in our midst, such as Flt- Lt. Rawlings & Co. often complain bitterly about how slow the system is – because they once wielded absolute power: unfettered by the checks and balances that underpin the democratic system of government we now operate? As it is often said, democracy is a messy and imperfect system of government: but it is far better than any other system of government known to man – because of the limitations it places on the powers of those who make up the Government. It really is an unsatisfactory state of affairs that today, in the digital age, as things stand, the pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction: and the state is now hamstrung by its lack of a far-reaching voice that enables state agencies to counter the self-serving falsehoods that permeate media- houses: both print and electronic.
Perhaps the question we ought to ask, is: What has the NMC done all this while, for example, to stop political parties (across the spectrum!) from hijacking the parliament-of-the-airwaves, by paying sundry mercenary types – the so-called serial-callers – to do propaganda on FM radio stations on their behalf, on a daily basis: and in the process freezing out ordinary citizens from participating in current affairs discussion programmes on the over one hundred and twenty FM radio stations across our homeland Ghana? Kabral Blay-Amihere, as we all know, was in the trenches with other media heroes such as: the late Tommy Thompson of blessed memory; Kweku Baako ; and Kwesi Pratt , amongst many other patriotic citizens. I do not doubt that he sees his role in the NMC as a continuation of the fight that was fought in the past to protect the basic human rights of all Ghanaians. However, at a time when digital television can provide the State with an interactive digital platform to enable its agencies deal directly with each Ghanaian citizen, (and provide all Ghanaians with direct access to government ministries; departments ; agencies; as well as interact directly with all the district assemblies – all of which can be provided with their own interactive television channels – from the comfort of their own homes; educational institutions; businesses ; etc. etc.!), why leave the state media organizations under the control of the NMC, I ask?
In choosing the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), for example, the NMC, by definition, faces the almost impossible task of having to pick an apolitical figure (in the mould of Lord Reith of BBC fame!), who always ought to have the national interest at heart: as opposed to what will be advantageous for the political party that has his or her loyalty (if the NMC is truly and fairly discharging its true constitutional mandate, i.e.)? Who, in this country, does not remember the shameful way the website of the GBC was used by faceless individuals (with a secret agenda of their own!) to try to publicize false results of the run-off of the December 2008 presidential election? Why should a politically-biased individual, such as the gentleman who currently heads the GBC, for example, be allowed to strike one-sided commercial deals that are lucrative for private-sector entities, and which enables them piggy-back off the digital platform of GBC – an entity more or less entirely funded by the taxpayer – without the say so of the government of the day, which provides it with funds? Why repeat the daft Metro TV / GBC deal that enabled a few private individuals to use a frequency of the GBC to establish a television station, and enrich themselves at the GBC’s (and by extension, taxpayers’!) expense? How can it be that even law enforcement agencies investigating corrupt practices in that institution, cannot question the head of GBC without recourse to the NMC, I ask, dear reader? What then is the point of a board of directors for GBC if they have to get the NMC to discipline the head of the organisation they provide strategic direction for and ensure operates according to corporate good governance principles? How absurd! Let us take advantage of any review of the 1992 constitution to end this untenable situation once and for all. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 30 2976238.
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