The National Communications Authority (NCA) says it has shut down four radio stations on grounds of national security.
The NCA in a press release issued on Saturday, 24 February 2024, explained that the media outlets were being used to heighten the chieftaincy-related conflict in Bawku, a town in the east of the Upper East region.
The statement named the stations as Bawku FM, Gumah FM, Source FM and Zahra FM.
It said the decision “follows the recommendations of the Upper East Regional Security Council” and the “advice of the Ministry of National Security that the operations of the said FM stations and the incendiary utterances of their panelists/presenters have contributed to the escalation of the Bawku conflict, leading to loss of lives and property in Bawku and its environs.”
The weekend development means the radio audiences in the area will now rely on the remaining stations transmitting from the less-troubled outskirts as their local sources of information.
Never before had any of the twenty-plus radio stations in the region been shut down in connection with any existing conflict or use of words deemed inflammatory enough to turn a community on its head. What is not new in the region is radio stations disappearing on radio sets for failing to defray regulatory fees owed the NCA and returning to air after settling the debts.
“Consequently, the NCA has invoked its powers to shut down the stations in accordance with Section 13(1) (e) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) which provides that: ‘the Authority may suspend or revoke a license or a frequency authorization where the suspension or revocation is necessary because of national security or is in the public interest’,” the NCA stated further in the release.
The four affected stations have not made any official statements yet in reaction to the NCA’s action and statement.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org
