GIBA calls for constitutional protection of media freedom in ongoing review

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) is calling for key protections for media freedom to remain entrenched in Ghana’s Constitution as part of the ongoing constitutional review.

The association says relying on ordinary legislation to protect fundamental media rights could leave the sector vulnerable to changes by successive parliamentary majorities and governments.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement on the constitutional review, GIBA member Samson Lardi Anyenini said the association was concerned that several of its recommendations submitted to the Constitutional Review Committee were not reflected in the committee’s final report.

He said GIBA, however, welcomed some of the proposals in the report, particularly those concerning the independence and regulation of the media.

“GIBA had set up a committee, and the committee did some work and submitted the position paper or recommendations for the purposes of the review. What it finds is that quite a good number of those did not make it into the report,” Mr Anyenini said.

“Nonetheless, the report brought out something that was fundamental and useful to GIBA in some aspects.”

He said the association’s major concern was with proposals that would leave certain protections to legislation rather than entrenching them in the Constitution.

“GIBA believes that certain things must not be left to legislation, which majorities will change,” he said.

Mr Anyenini said the broader question should be whether the proposed constitutional and regulatory framework would provide sufficient independence for media institutions from the government of the day.

“So, the real question, does the proposed architecture leave Ghana's media institutions sufficiently independent of the government of the day?” he asked.

GIBA seeks stronger role for NMC

The association is also pushing for stronger constitutional safeguards for the National Media Commission (NMC) and greater sectoral representation in its composition.

“GIBA's preference is for sectorial nomination to the NMC, and its support for constitutional protection for the NMC's core functions,” Mr Anyenini said.

The Constitutional Review Committee has proposed reducing the NMC’s membership from 18 to seven while increasing representation from the media sector.

Mr Anyenini said GIBA supported that proposal over the alternative position put forward by the government.

He also raised concerns about the relationship between the NMC and the National Communications Authority (NCA), particularly in decisions involving broadcast authorisations.

He argued that as the media environment evolves, decisions by the NCA can have direct implications for constitutionally protected media freedoms.

“Now that we see that constitutional interests are implicated in what the NCA does, the specific proposal is that NMC's concurrence in granting, suspending, or revoking broadcast authorization become a norm,” he said.

He called for a co-regulatory framework between the two institutions and proposed representation for the NMC on the NCA’s board.

“The NCA's board, if nothing at all, should have NMC representation. Because media freedoms are implicated in the work that the NCA does,” he said.

Call for technology-neutral media framework

GIBA is also advocating changes to reflect the transformation of Ghana’s media landscape following the growth of digital technology.

Mr Anyenini said Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution was largely designed around traditional forms of media and did not anticipate the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications, streaming services, social media and other digital platforms.

“We believe that Chapter 12 was designed for an earlier media,” he said.

“You read Chapter 12, and you can clearly tell that it's talking about the traditional forms of media expression. It didn't seem to anticipate what we now have today.”

He said the review should therefore provide a broader, technology-neutral definition of the media.

“Today, broadcasting, telecommunications, streaming, social media, and digital platforms overlap. GIBA, therefore, supports technology neutrality,” he said.

GIBA backs Broadcasting Bill with conditions

GIBA is also supporting the passage of the Broadcasting Bill, 2024, but wants its concerns and submissions to be considered in the legislative process.

Mr Anyenini said the association’s position could broadly be summarised into three priorities: entrenching essential media protections in the Constitution, preserving sectoral participation in media regulatory institutions, and protecting the core functions of the NMC while establishing a co-regulatory framework involving the NCA.

He rejected the view that ordinary legislation alone would provide sufficient protection for fundamental media and other rights.

“You will see that even in Chapter 5, the Bill of Rights, the proposals that have been made, the government is saying, let's have a certain compendium, comprehensive legislation to take care of rights,” he said.

“We insist that constitutionalizing these rights is most important to start with.”

He added: “Thinking about simply doing Acts of Parliament for the purpose is a non-starter really.”

The stakeholder engagement brought together representatives of GIBA, the Ghana Journalists Association, the Private Newspapers and Online Publishers Association of Ghana, the NMC, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and other civil society organisations.

The stakeholders are calling for the constitutional review to preserve and strengthen safeguards for media freedom and independence while adapting Ghana’s media regulatory framework to the changing digital environment.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.