NCA dares suspended TV stations to go to court

The Principal Manager for Engineering at the National Communication Authority, (NCA), Edmund Fianko, has dared managers of the the suspended private television chamnels to seek redress in court if they feel aggrieved by the actions of the authority.

The National Communication Authority (NCA) has already defended its decision to take some TV channels including that of the controversial preacher Bishop Obinim’s OB TV, off air.

According to the NCA, the stations breached the guidelines under Section 2(4) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775, and used a third party satellite infrastructure provider to broadcast their programs via satellite.
Nine television stations including Obinim’s OB TV, Kessben TV, Clive TV, ECN, Zoe TV, BTA, ATV, Care TV, and Elijah TV have so far been taken off air.

Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News, Mr Fianko said the stations that have been suspended can go to court because it is entirely the right of any citizen of Ghana to seek redress at the courts if they feel mistreated.

According to him, “The authority is a corporate body. It can sue and be sued so if anybody is unhappy with the authority there is also an electronic communications tribunal that the law establishes so if you don’t want to go to court you can go there. It is entirely the right of any citizen of Ghana to seek judicial review to of anything that has been done to them unfairly.”

Suspended stations were aware of the regulations

Mr. Fianko also noted that all the affected stations knew that they were breaching the regulations.

“None of these stations can say this was a surprise decision. Maybe the surprise to them was that they didn’t think we would go ahead with what we had told them we would do.”

The NCA Engineer stated that the NCA had given numerous warnings to the stations before the final decision that followed.

In a statement, the NCA said the nine stations affected were notified last year and given a grace period to regularize their operations but failed to do so.

“I know that each one of them is aware because a number of human engagements have gone on. We have put a human face to it because the interventions have been numerous because none of them can say that they haven’t had significant prior orders of the requirements to obtain authorization to do what they were doing.”