{"id":63188,"date":"2025-06-13T10:10:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=63188"},"modified":"2025-06-13T10:10:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:10:36","slug":"gja-applauds-president-mahama-for-reversing-closure-of-64-radio-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=63188","title":{"rendered":"GJA applauds President Mahama for reversing closure of 64 radio stations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has commended President John Dramani Mahama for his decisive intervention to prevent the closure of 64 radio stations nationwide, a move that was set in motion by the National Communications Authority (NCA) over various regulatory infractions.<\/p>\n

The affected stations were cited for offences ranging from failure to renew their frequency authorisations, operating without valid documentation, exceeding approved transmission limits, to non-payment of authorisation fees.<\/p>\n

However, President Mahama ordered the Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation to work with the NCA to suspend the shutdown, a directive the GJA believes averted a major crisis in Ghana\u2019s media landscape.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Friday, the GJA said the closure of so many radio stations, regardless of the regulatory breaches, would have had severe socio-economic consequences<\/strong>, including mass job losses<\/strong> and the disruption of essential public services<\/strong> delivered by these media outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe agree with the President that shutting down the radio stations may seriously undermine media freedom and freedom of expression,\u201d the Association noted.<\/p>\n

The GJA praised President Mahama for what it described as a balance between regulatory enforcement and clemency, saying his action reflects a government that is responsive to concerns about media freedom and committed to fostering media pluralism and diversity.<\/p>\n

While urging the affected stations to take advantage of the reprieve to rectify their regulatory lapses, the GJA also reaffirmed its stance against illegality, stressing the need for compliance within a framework that supports journalistic freedom.<\/p>\n

The Association further called for greater dialogue between the NCA and media stakeholders<\/strong> to ensure that regulatory enforcement does not unduly stifle the flow of information. It also urged the NCA to ensure fairness and transparency<\/strong> in its compliance processes.<\/p>\n

To enhance public accountability, the GJA has asked the NCA to publish the compliance status of all radio and TV stations<\/strong>, including details about ownership and licensing timelines.<\/p>\n

The Association\u2019s statement, signed by General Secretary Kofi Yeboah, also called for a more balanced regulatory environment that safeguards both operational fidelity and the fundamental principles of press freedom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has commended President John Dramani Mahama for his decisive intervention to prevent the closure of 64 radio stations nationwide, a move that was set in motion by the National Communications Authority (NCA) over various regulatory infractions. The affected stations were cited for offences ranging from failure to renew their frequency […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-63188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}