Minority Leader and MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has described President John Dramani Mahama’s clemency to some closed-down radio stations as a move meant purely for the optics.
President Mahama has directed the National Communications Authority (NCA) to restore the broadcast licenses of 64 affected stations, including pro-New Patriotic Party outlets Wontumi FM and Asaase Radio, which were taken off-air over regulatory breaches.
In a statement issued by the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, on Thursday, June 12, the President said regulatory compliance must be pursued in a way that protects and enhances media freedom.
“The President has asked the Minister to work with the NCA on a reasonable timeframe within which the affected stations should regularise their authorisation,” the statement added.
However, reacting to the directive on the floor of Parliament, Afenyo-Markin, who disagreed with the NCA’s initial action, said the clemency was merely a calculated attempt to win public praise amid growing criticism.
“We saw a statement from the presidency later this afternoon. The supposed clemency—these are things that are done for the optics. In the political system, when you see that there’s a backlash, you react. It’s a very rich statement, very rich. And we take this supposed clemency with a pinch of salt,” he said.
According to him, the intervention could have been better handled internally before being made public.
“The NCA, together with the Ministry of Communication, had embarked on a certain path. Now Mr. President, exercising his supervisory mandate, is telling them to stop. I think this should have been discussed in-house. Well, we’ve been in government before, so we understand the situation the government finds itself in,” he stated.
