You need to take Onua TV/FM off air – NMC tells NCA

The National Media Commission (NMC) has asked the National Communications Authority (NCA) to suspend the authorizations of Onua TV and Onua FM over the stations’ inciteful broadcasts.

In a series of events leading to this development, the NMC had asked Onua TV/FM to apologise to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and other senior officers of the Ghana Armed Forces for accusing them on the morning show of misappropriating funds meant for peacekeeping operations.

The Commission also asked the station and its parent, Media General Limited, to take corrective steps towards ensuring professionalism in their broadcast.

NMC gave them a deadline of November 19, 2023, to address the issues raised in its letter.

But the media group turned down the requests of the regulator, indicating the letter from the regulator was wrongly addressed to the parent company (Media General Limited) instead of the Onua brand as they are separate legal entities.

The stations did not also outline their plans for improvement as directed by NMC.

In a response, the NMC argued that the authorizations granted to Onua were under Media General per its checks with the NCA. The NMC further extended the deadline to November 24, 2023.

In the suspension letter from the NCA dated November 28, 2023, the NMC stated as follows:

“We write with reference to our Memorandum of Cooperation adopted pursuant to Section 3(d) of the National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769) to notify you of the need to suspend the authorization of Onua TV and Onua FM.”

“The two stations have become the soundtrack to hateful rhetoric carefully orchestrated to incite ethnic division, provoke mutiny in the armed forces, and prey upon the youth for insurrection against the state.”

The Commission also cited previous cases of broadcasts it considered inciteful and not up to the standards of the profession.

The letter from NMC to NCA ordering the closure of Onua FM/TV is reproduced below:

The Director General

National Communications Authority

Accra

November 28, 2023

Dear Sir,

NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OF AUTHORISATION: ONUA TV & ONUA FM

We write with reference to our Memorandum of Cooperation adopted pursuant to section 3(d) of the National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769) to notify you of the need to suspend the authorisation of Onua TV and Onua Fm.

The two stations have become the soundtrack to hateful rhetoric carefully orchestrated to incite ethnic division, provoke mutiny in the armed forces and prey upon the youth for insurrection against the state.

They have systematically sought to subvert critical national institutions including the Council of State and the Ghana Armed Forces in a manner that constitutes clear and present danger to the public interest.

In one instance, they expressed the wish to have the Chairman of the Council of State killed. The Chairman, Nana Otuo Serebour, is the Omanhene of Juaben and President of the Juaben Traditional Council in Ashanti with subjects across the entire nation. Beyond the natural disgust of the stations’ wish, the public order implications of wishing a traditional ruler dead is obvious.

In another instance, the stations through the same presenter insulted the Chiefs and people of the Wiawso Traditional Area forcing them to hold a durbar to perform traditional rituals to declare him persona non grata in their community.

In yet another broadcast, he insulted the Western Regional Minister as a person without sense who acts like “Esrem politician.” Esrem is the twi reference for the Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper West and Upper East Regions. Such stereotyping and tribal bigotry if unchecked will ultimately lead to ethnic conflict, undermine national cohesion and destabilize the state.

More recently, the stations sought to instigate the Ghana Armed Forces against the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and other Commanders. The stations called the CDS and his Commanders “beasts” and alleged they embezzled monies meant for peace keepers. They offered no evidence for the claims. The attacks on the military commanders come in the wake of coup d’etats and mutinies in Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, Gabon and twice in Mali. Currently, there is disquiet in Sierra Leone after gunmen attacked a military barracks. The specific attacks on the CDS and his commanders is reminiscent of the January 1994 broadcast of Rwandan radio attacks on the UNAMIR Commander Romeo Dallaire as part of the genocide playbook.

Attempts at Correction

Many attempts have been made to correct the stations and to prevent them from their harmful broadcast. All has been to no avail.

When they attacked the Council of State, the Council magnanimously invited them together with NMC and other stakeholders to a discussion. At that forum, the representative of the stations’ management promised to ensure they complied with professional requirements in broadcasting. They reneged on this promise and continued with their dangerous broadcast.

When they called for insurrection against the state, the NMC warned them and asked them to retract the broadcast and apologise to the people of Ghana. They ignored the warning and refused to apologise. The management of the stations wrote to NMC in which they expressed no objection to the behaviour and rather questioned the legality of NMC’s regulatory action. The Commission then stepped up the complaint to the Board of Directors of the stations. The board found nothing wrong with the behaviour of the stations.

In the recent broadcast in which they sought to incite mutiny in the Ghana Armed Forces, the Commission once again wrote to the Board giving them seven days to get the stations to apologise and retract the broadcast. Once again, the Board refused to get the stations to retract their broadcasts. At the end of the seven days, the Commission extended the time for another seven days. At the expiration of the second seven days making a total of 14 days, the station has refused to apologise.

It is therefore clear that the dangerous broadcast is deliberate and is sanctioned by the management and board. This means we cannot rely on the station to change its ways unless regulatory intervention is applied. It is upon this basis that we issue this notice.

Regulatory impact

The suspension of the authorization of the two stations will not impact the broadcasting industry in any negative way. Ghana is recognised globally as one of the best nations with diverse and plural media. Ghana’s per capita radio and television access is far higher than most democracies in the world. Indeed, some industry analysts argue, debatably, that the broadcasting market is saturated. This means the deliberate decision by 2 stations to withdraw from broadcast by their unprofessional and dangerous practice, will not affect citizens in any way.

Legal basis

Article 164 of the Constitution subjects media rights to laws that are reasonably required in the interest of national security and public order among other things. In line with that, section 13(e) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, (Act 775) empowers the authority to suspend a frequency authorization where “the suspension or revocation is necessary … in the public interest.”

We also confirm in terms of section 13(f) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, (Act 775), that the imposition of a fine will not be sufficient under the circumstances considering the dangerous nature of the content, the persistent defiance of advice, the presenter’s unprofessional practice, management’s incapacity in implementing regulatory rules and the Board’s nonchalance in supervising the stations.

As regulators, we cannot wait anymore for the worst to happen.

Yours faithfully

George Sarpong

Executive Secretary