The most terrible thing was to see Akufo-Addo’s gov’t close down radio stations – Wereko-Brobby

A senior policy analyst, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby has stated that one of the biggest disappointments of his life was to witness the President Akufo-Addo-led government close down radio stations in the country.

He considered it the “most terrible thing”, given the fact that the President was the lawyer for the Independent Media Corporation of Ghana (IMCG), the operators of Radio Eye, who fought for the independence of the media and freedom of speech under the erstwhile Rawlings administration in Ghana.

Dr Wereko-Brobby has expressed surprise that one of the architects of media plurality and independence, will under his presidency shut down radio stations which he considers opposed to their ideas.

When pointed out to him that the lawyers for the National Communication Authority (NCA) had indicated that the shutdown radio stations had violated the regulatory framework in the country, Dr Wereko-Brobby retorted that “talking about the NCA, they are the biggest pusher against freedom of speech”.

He added that the institution that should have dealt with the affected radio stations shouldn’t have been the NCA, saying according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) definition of freedom and independence of the media, “they say it must be free of governmental control”.

The proprietor of the defunct Radio Eye said the NCA is a government agency with a minister with political control, that is why the constitution in its wisdom actually set up the National Media Commission (NMC).

“It is an illegality that the government, under Totobi Kwakye passed the law, not knowing that that law will even come and bite their own people later on,” he stated.

Dr Wereko-Brobby said they will push again so that what the constitution intended is actually done in the country.

He said this in an interview with Dzifa Bampoh on the First Take on 3FM.

“One of the biggest disappointments of my life was to see the Akufo-Addo Presidency actually close down radio stations. I think it is the most terrible thing, given that Akufo-Addo was the lawyer for the Independent Media Corporation of Ghana, Radio Eye’s operators and we fought for the independence of the media,” he charged.

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