The Chairman of the Commission, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, has appealed for adequate resources be made available to enable the commission perform its oversight role of ensuring media development in the country.
Mr Ayeboafo made the call at a three day orientation for members of the national media commission at Ho, in the Volta region.
Media practice and its development in Ghana is key to the country’s democracy and governance systems.
Media practice and development in Ghana has seen some major strives over the years. This notwithstanding, there are also issues of grave concern as far as media development and practice is concerned.
This places a call on all stakeholders including the only institution charged by the state to ensure media development; the National Media Commission to engage and think through to come out with workable recommendations to advance the course of media development in the country.
The three day orientation which attracted members of the commission could therefore be seen in this direction. The Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, George Sarpong Esq, said despite the key roles played by the traditional media in the country’s democracy and governance systems, the advent of social media, especially issues of fake news has brought many media outlets on their knees near collapse.
The programme coordinator for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Michael Abbey, assured the commission of its continued support towards developing media practice in the country.
The Chairman for the National Media Commission, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo said the commission is rich in human resource but lack adequate funding to undertake its statutory responsibilities and functions effectively and efficiently.
” But of all constitutional bodies created under the 1992 constitution, the NMC is the most resourced staff from the fang hub, all the commissioners are part time through the inadequate office space to the low budgetary allocation. There is everything to confirm that whereas the spirit of the Secretariats and Commissioners are willing and ready to perform, and discharge their duties the body is weak so to do.
Definitely, among the immediate and imperative needs of the Commission are suitable head office accommodation, regional offices, adequate budgetary allocations and management of frequency allocation,” he mentioned.
Inadequate budgetary allocation, lack of infrastructure and personnel are some of the major challenges impeding the national media commission from performing its statutory duties and functions efficiently. To this end, the chairman of the commission, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, has appealed for adequate resources be made available to enable the commission perform its oversight role of ensuring media development in the country.
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Mr Ayeboafo also called on government to put in place measures and mechanisms to make the commission functionally independent.
” The fact that the Commission had to go to court for four years before the court held that, it was the Commission, not the government which had the power and authority to appoint Chief Executive Officers for the State or media.
The fact that up to date, the NMC does not play any functional role in the allocation of frequency for the electronic media or did, we do not have clarity of the authority to control the governance architecture to manage the DTT platform, all point to the lack of commitment on the part of government to make the Commission functionally independent, ” he added.
