Wereko Brobby meets Akufo-Addo at Radio Gold and the closing of XYZ

Politics of Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-07-23

Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby told Joy News that he had written to President Akufo-Addo and met him, following the closure of two pro-national Democratic Congressional Radio Stations (NDCs). .

He told Evans Mensah that they had discussed issues relating to Radio Gold and XYZ, in addition to other issues that he felt were ironic under the President's eye.

The former CEO of the Volta River Authority (VRA) is also the founder of the country's first private radio station, Radio Eye, which operated unlicensed in 1994.

Dr. Brobby was arrested by the government Jerry John Rawlings. The current president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was his lawyer. The action earned Dr. Brobby the nickname "Tarzan".

The CEO of Ghana @ 50 Secretariat in the interview also explained that the government could cancel what he thought was the damage caused by the Akufo-Addo administration to press freedom.

"Because I did not think the government was allowing such action, for the first time under his mandate, I looked for an audience with him in May of this year. I told him that it was now an opportunity that the wrongs against which you had fought so much had to be corrected, "he revealed.

According to him, he suggested ways for President Akufo-Addo to make a correction.

The arrest of Radio Gold and XYZ was the latest initiative taken by the regulator, the National Communication Authority (NCA), to crack down on radio stations operating without valid licenses, the newspaper added.

According to the Authority, this was an enforcement of the Electronic Communications Tribunal's decision to shut down radio stations operating without proper licenses.

However, the radio stations concerned disputed the basis of the judgment.

The NCA's action has been widely condemned, including by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), which claims that such actions tend to undermine media freedom in the country and called for an immediate review. of this decision.

Obviously unsatisfied with the action, Tarzan wrote to President Akufo-Addo to suggest ways to handle the problem before finally meeting him one-on-one.

"My problems did not include shutting down the stations, but it was like the fight we started. I told him that we fought for that and that you are now able to do something about it. And I said that if the judicial process had been exhausted, the constitution gave Parliament permission to legislate, so that an amendment could be made to the NCA regulation, "he said. .

The former presidential candidate of the United Ghana Movement (UGM) said he suggested to President Akufo-Addo to create a committee chaired by jurist Anthony Akoto Ampaw.

"He is probably the most knowledgeable about media rights. Then invite the NCA, the National Media Commission and other technicians to make a recommendation on how we can handle this unfortunate development and reinforce the freedom of media that we established during this period.

According to him, it makes no sense to say that NCA has the power to badign frequencies and that an interested person must obtain authorization from NCA before operating a radio station.

"Publicly, I would have liked to see President Kwaku Sakyi-Addo [NCA Board Chair] and Kan Daapah [National Security Minister], decide on this particular development, "he said.

Dr. Brobby said their silence was synonymous with negligence in their sworn commitment to media freedom.

Tarzan said that this recent event evokes sad memories of the era of the "culture of silence". He is ready, with the help of the Ghana Association of Independent Broadcasters (GIBA) and the GJA, to address this issue in the Supreme Court.