Here's why NCA shut down Radio Gold and Radio XYZ

According to the NCA, the "Radio stations operating without valid authorisations as determined by the 2017 FM Broadcasting Audit are being shut down with immediate effect as enforcement action in view of the decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal."

In a statement, it said "Following the FM Spectrum Audit in 2017, some stations were found to be in default and were fined by the Authority. However, some of the stations in default were not satisfied and proceeded to the various courts; Electronic Communications Tribunal (ECT) and the High Court to appeal against the NCA’s decision.

"This resulted in a decision by the ECT in 2018 which reviewed the status of expired FM Radio Broadcasting Authorisations and which ruled among others that Companies whose authorisations had expired reverted to the same position as a fresh applicant. While some stations shut down following this decision, others did not."

On Thursday, May 9, 2019, two pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) media houses, Radio Gold and Radio XYZ were taken off air by armed policemen, accompanied by authorities from the NCA.

According to reports, the radio stations are owing the NCA which they have refused to pay.

They have also failed to renew their licenses, which reports indicate have expired since last year.

Radio station Pulse Ghana

At the time of the shutdown, Radio XYZ had started a live broadcast of a press conference organised and was being addressed by the Council of Elders of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the party's headquarters in Accra.

But the NCA said "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 National Communications Authority (NCA) is enforcing the shutdown of FM radio stations who are operating without authorisation."

However, the Chief Executive Officer of Network Broadcasting Company Limited, operators of Radio Gold, James Agyenim-Boateng has said his outfit made numerous attempts to submit required documentation to the National Communication Authority (NCA) for the purposes of renewing the frequency authorization but the documentation was inexplicably rejected by the regulatory body.

This follows claims by the NCA that Radio Gold was operating without valid authorisations.

The two stations were handed letters detailing the reasoning behind the order and asked to re-apply for a fresh license if they still wished to operate as Frequency Modulation (FM) radio stations.

According to a statement signed by the CEO, James Agyenim-Boateng, it stated that Radio Gold at all material times have been engaging officials of the NCA through its lawyers on the matter of renewing the frequency authorization but the unexplained rejection of their documentation considerably stalled their renewal process.

"We had hoped that any action of the sort undertaken by the NCA on Thursday would have been preceded with prior and adequate notification.

Radio XYZ Pulse Ghana

"It is 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," the statement said.

Agyenim-Boateng believes the closure of his station by NCA officials is high-handed and runs contrary to the spirit of engagement that has existed between the NCA and Radio Gold.

He said the legal representatives of the station will "continue to engage the NCA with the view to resolving the matter in issue to ensure the quick resumption of our normal programming."

University of Ghana lecturer, Professor Ransford Gyampo has condemned the timing of the decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to shut down the radio stations.

He said "We cannot allow Radio stations to operate without requisite licenses. I am of the firm belief and conviction that those who seek to ensure that politicians do the right thing, must themselves operate within the confines of rules. But whoever ordered the shutdown of the radio stations at this crucial time, when our international rating on press freedom has reportedly gone down; and more importantly, when the political temperature of the country seem to be rising, has no good judgement and proper sense of timing. Couldn’t this have been deferred to next week? A bad thing, is a good thing done at the wrong time."