Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Suleiman Braimah, has said a statement by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on the approval of licenses for some 133 radio stations to operate in the country lacks vital information.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Morning show Dwaso Nsem Wednesday, Mr Braimah urged the NCA to release the full list of all the radio stations, indicating dates of first and last authorisation, renewals, locations and operational status.
“This three-paragraph statement the NCA has released is nothing to write home about. If you have granted 133 stations licenses to operate, then it’s time to release all the names because there is nothing that stops the NCA from bringing the full list for us to know those radios stations that were shut down and those who only needed renewals. They need to come clear about this issue,” he charged.
A statement from the NCA said the stations include those whose licences were revoked after an audit in 2017 which affected Radio Gold and Radio XYZ.
“The Governing Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA), at a Board meeting held on 11th October 2021, approved the grant of a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Three (133) FM radio broadcasting authorisations which include new applications from entities whose FM radio stations were closed down after the 2017 FM Audit as well as existing stations which applied for renewal of their expired FM Radio broadcasting authorisations,” a statement from the NCA said.
But Mr Braimah was of the view that the full list (name of the company, name of the radio station, location and frequency number) of all the radio stations is the only way to go so that the credibility of the institution is not dented.
To the MFWA boss, he does not see the wisdom in the justification.
He said “it was a very discriminatory, politically motivated decision that was taken and now the same entity has decided to reverse its own decision. So I don’t think there’s anything I should be elated about.
“There were over a hundred that were in the same situation based on the NCA’s own data, and yet they were not shut down.”
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, Suleiman Braimah has said statement by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on the approval of licenses for some 133 radio stations to operate in the country lacks vital information.){kind=link}