Management of Network Broadcasting Company (NBC) Ltd, operators of Radio Gold and Management of Radio XYZ have responded to the closure of both radio stations by officials of the National Communications Authority (NCA) in the company of armed policemen on Thursday, 9th May 2019.
According to a statement signed by JAMES AGYENIM-BOATENG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of NBC in the possession of http://eveningmailgh.com, management of Radio Gold stated that they had “made numerous attempts to submit the required documentation to the NCA for the purposes of renewing the frequency authorisation, which documentation was inexplicably rejected by the NCA.”
Shut down
The National Communications Authority has shut down Radio Gold 90.5 FM and Radio XYZ 93.1 FM both based in Accra on Thursday afternoon.
Officials of the NCA stormed the premises of the stations with armed security personnel while they were On-Air and ordered their immediate closure.
They were then handed letters detailing the reasoning behind the order as while as asking them to re-apply for license if they still wished to operate as Frequency Modulation (FM) radio stations.
A statement issued by the NCA said the Authority is shutting down radio stations operating without valid authorisations.
NDC Press Conference
Radio Gold and Radio XYZ are owned by persons affiliated to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Both stations were carrying live telecast of a press conference held by the opposition party’s council of elders when they were shut down in the process.
The management of radio gold have described the situation as ‘regrettable that Radio Gold was shut down by the NCA at a time the station was providing intermittent live coverage of the press conference by the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress
(NDC) at its headquarters.”
They stated that, the closure of Radio Gold is high-handed and runs contrary to the spirit of engagement that has existed between the NCA and the station.
The management of the station has however stated that “notwithstanding, our legal representatives will continue to engage the NCA with the view to resolving the matter in issue to ensure a quick resumption of our normal programming.”
Attempts by Radio XYZ
Meanwhile, Managing Editor for Radio XYZ, Eric Ahianyo has narrated how several requests they have made to have their operating license regularized by the NCA, have not received any response from the authority.
Neither an attempt to meet with the Director-General, Joe Anokye, yielded any fruitful results, he stated.
He explained in an interview monitored by http://eveningmailgh.com, that the station between July 2017 and December 2018, sent two bankers drafts through GT Bank with an amount of ₵11,165 on each occasion to the NCA requesting to renew their license per the orders of the ECT.
They then made several follow-ups at the authority but none of them received any favourable response only for them to receive a “Surprise letter telling us to ‘suspend our operations with immediate effect’.”
“We’ve immediately reported it to our directors and our lawyers for the necessary action to be taken,” Eric Ahianyo hinted of their next line of action and hoped the station will be back on-air sometime soon.
Facebook Broadcasting
Meanwhile, Radio XYZ has indicated that they will continue to broadcast from facebook until the matter is resolved. The station has already started advertising for two of their most listened to programs, Ete Sen, the Morning show and afternoon show Inside Politics to be transmitted via facebook.
Source: http://eveningmailgh.com
