Media Censorship And Suppression Is A Threat To National Security

The 4th arm of Government is the Media and as per law, they are equipped under it to execute their mandate diligently.

Chapter 12 of Article 162 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution guarantee the freedom and
independence of the media, prohibit censorship and renounce any law requiring any person to
obtain a licence as a prerequisite to establish or operate any type of mass media.
Article 166 of Chapter 12 of the constitution provides for the establishment of the National
Media Commission (NMC) by an Act of Parliament.

The Commission’s membership is stakeholder-based, comprising representatives from professional bodies, Parliament, the Executive, the bar and civil society, tasked to ensure high journalistic standards, mediate and settle complaints made against or by the press or other mass media, and more crucially, insulate the state-owned media from governmental control.

It is on this premise that the media work very hard to produce accurate content / information to the consumption of the general public. Ghana’s media also serve as a vehicle in carrying, conveying and broadcasting information whether positive or negative to the final decision makes to either act or ignore the information thereof..

Unfortunately, there are some institutions of old whose duty are to protect and shape our cultures and traditions, and it is by this article we write to ask if these traditional institutions someway, have the powers or rights under the 1992 constitution to restrict the activities of any media house.

Under article 11 which grants the traditional arm the respect to operate under the customary laws, that jurisdiction itself not absolute.

That been said, there was an incident last year when a full media house was directed to shut down amid commentaries that were unfavorable to some traditional leadership in Ghana.

Others have even in the past also directed their acolytes to go and destroy equipment’s etc at these media houses just because they opposed the views being discussed even thou the doors of Ghana’s courts aren’t closed.

As the minister of information rightly pointed out, attacking media freedoms is a National security threat and shall always be treated as such. So in the spirit of goodwill, we pray all to desist from attacking media houses an also refrain from threatening and suppressing the media against executing their duties to the later.

By.. Sedrick Robert Zu