A National Communications Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Akwasi Mensah says the NCA’s approval of licenses of 133 radio stations which includes that of the Radio Gold indicates that the NDC has been vindicated.
A number of radio stations including Radio Gold and XYZ were shut down by the National Communications Authority in May 2019.
The NCA explained that the closures were carried out in line with Regulations 65 (1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991, which states that “a person shall not use a radio frequency without authorisation from the Authority.”
The radio stations included Radio Gold, Montie FM and Radio XYZ, which were aligned with the opposition National Democratic Congress.
But on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, the NCA approved the grant of a total of One Hundred and Thirty Three (133) FM radio broadcasting authorisations which include new applications from entities whose FM radio stations were closed down after the 2017 FM Audit as well as existing stations which applied for renewal of their expired FM Radio broadcasting authorisations.
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Speaking with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie, Mr Peter Akwasi Mensah said the shut down of Radio Gold and other stations which were perceived to be affiliated with the NDC was pure political witch-hunt.
He said the shutdown of Radio Gold was a shock looking at the status of the station and the fact that some top journalists and presenters were trained there.
Mr Peter Akwasi Mensah said although the managers of the station came out to say they were working on the renewal of their licence, the station was shut down because of its NDC background.
“Looking at the time that the radio station was criticising the government for not doing what was right, the Government saw that the station was powerful and they shut it down,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the NCA should be questioned if the 133 stations have met the requirements based on which they were shut down.
“They are ashamed because they know by 2024 they will leave power and so they have allowed them to operate. They do not deserve any praise because they have not given us cogent reasons,” he said.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
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