Former President John Dramani Mahama says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should feel embarrassed over the closure of Radio Gold and Radio XYZ under the cloak of enforcing regulations and laws.
According to him, President Akufo-Addo, who touts himself as a human rights advocate and an advocate of free expression and free speech, should not be nonchalant about the closure of the radio stations but “wake up and listen and do something about it.”
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Speaking on Facebook in a question and answer session, Thursday, Mr Mahama said “it is a pity that these two stations have been taken off. The authorities are hiding behind regulation and law, but in the end it is about free speech and it is about press freedom.
“I believe that Nana Akufo-Addo, who touts himself as a human rights advocate and an advocate of free expression and free speech, must feel very embarrassed about the closure of these two stations.”
The 2020 National Democratic Congress presidential candidate, giving his own interpretation of what led to the closure of the stations, said “the bottom line is that these stations are deemed to be anti-government and pro-opposition and that’s the main reason behind their closure.”
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Background
It would be recalled that in March 2019 the National Communications Authority (NCA) shut down Radio Gold-90.5 FM and Radio XYZ-93.1 FM over regulatory breaches.
“Radio stations operating without valid authorisations as determined by the 2017 FM Broadcasting Audit are being shut down with immediate effect as an enforcement action in view of the decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal,” the NCA justified in a statement.