By: Kofi Yeboah
The transition from the old cedi to the new currency exposed what many people today would describe as a “stone-age character” in a farmer in the Brong Ahafo Region. He was reported to have dug a hole in his room where he kept millions of the old cedi.
It was only when it dawned on him that he would lose the money he had secretly kept for decades if he did not change them into the new currency that the farmer withdrew the money from his ‘bank’. And by the time he did, half of it was spoiled and useless.
The farmer’s action is, undoubtedly, deeply rooted in antiquity. But his explanation for acting in the manner he did is anchored on good reasoning; he has no confidence in the modern banking system.
Much as his reasoning seems very interesting, it is even more intriguing to learn that after losing half of his money in the ground, the farmer maintained his resolve to keep faith with his ‘bank’ and antiquity.
Why would a sane person in the 21st century keep money in the ground and not be bothered about the consequences of theft and destruction? Why would a civilised person not be encouraged by the security and many financial opportunities like loans offered by the banks, to save his money with them? It is a big wonder.
Many people who heard the story of the farmer on radio stations might have broken their ribs with laughter. They probably must have condemned the man as ‘colo’, a local parlance for someone who is not abreast of modernity.
However, the critical issue about the farmer that deserves consideration, perhaps, more than his attitude, is the lack of faith and confidence he expressed in the modern banking system. Frankly, he could not have been far from the truth.
There is a large community of the farmer’s kind in the country, not because they are antiquated, but simply because the banks do not inspire faith in them. And so they have decided to keep their distance.
Even for many people who consider themselves as civilised and keep their money in the bank, faith and confidence are not attributes they would ascribe to the banks.
But for the fact that these days, the salaries of many workers are channelled through the banks, a lot of them would surely have no business to do at the banks. The reasons are numerous but suffice it to mention inefficiency, bureaucracy, delays in transacting business and the lack of courtesy towards customers by some banking officials, all of which sum up to excruciating frustration.
I have always had a problem with the services of cashiers at the Gulf House branch of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB). They are painfully slow for heaven’s sake!
One of the terrible moments I had at that bank was on December 24, 2007, when I went there to redeem a cheque. I stood for about 20 minutes and nothing was happening. Then I approached one of the cashiers to find out what was wrong only to be informed that the computer network had broken down and so I needed to exercise a little patience while they fixed the problem.
I wouldn’t have known that because the bank officials did not deem it courteous enough to inform the customers about what was happening.
On a day like December 24, time was of the essence and if I knew about the problem earlier, I would have dashed elsewhere to attend to another pressing need within the wasted period at the bank.
But that was the service the bank rendered to me and under the circumstance, I lost out on a few engagements and, of course, I lost my temper, bubbling with anger, but I kept my cool because on Christmas eve, it is not religious to go gun-blazing.
Somewhere in 2005, I decided to open a new bank account in addition to two other accounts I already have. When I walked to the Farrar Avenue branch of The Trust Bank (TTB), I was handed conditions that the International Monetary Fund would not even prescribe for its borrowers, just to give my money to them to keep and do business with.
The lady at the enquiries desk could have simply told me “gentleman, we don’t need your money” instead of giving me those conditions. Anyway, I got her message and said good day. Eventually, the money was put to a better use.
There are talks that the banks have changed from their old ways and become more receptive to people wanting to open bank accounts. If that is true, then it’s all well and good.
The Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) prides itself as the bank with the largest number of branches in the country. That is true and very commendable, especially considering the service it renders to the large number of the working populace all over the country.
But the bank will be the first to admit that its slogan, “We serve you better”, is a palpable deception. Its services hardly come anywhere near satisfaction. Non-functioning automated teller machines (ATMs), computers and air-conditioners, as well as long queues, slow service and lack of courtesy, are some of the services often rendered by the bank.
At the Osu branch of the GCB, for instance, it is sometimes better for a customer to carry a mat to the banking hall because you are likely to have a good sleep before being attended to. On many occasions, I have walked away from such experiences and found an alternative means to addressing my need of being there.
However, on other occasions that I had been compelled to “enjoy” that experience, I had heard some customers cast aspersions at cashiers at the bank.
One instance, I remember, was about an elderly man who had gone to the bank to take something small to enable him eat breakfast. He spent almost three hours at the bank. When the man lost his cool, my ears could not bear the vulgar-wrapped insults he unleashed on the cashiers and other banking officials.
Another experience I had with the GCB was in August 2007 when I had to redeem a cross cheque in my name at the Republic House branch. I wanted to pay the cheque into my GCB bank account in Osu. The cashier told me that could not be done.
Knowing very well that I could not cash a cross cheque and telling me I could not save it into my account with the same bank either, I wondered what she wanted me to do. Her answer was simple; go back to whoever issued the cheque to open it.
I thought the answer exposed the cashier as an apology of a banker, unless someone tells me GCB does not entertain cross cheques, even their own, or that cross cheques have no relevance in modern banking transactions.
Having been heavily soaked with disappointment, I walked out of the banking hall not knowing exactly what to do. Then, I remembered I have an account with the Barclays Bank at Osu. But Osu was very far away and it was just about 15 minutes to the banking closing time.
So I walked down to the Farrar Avenue branch of the Barclays Bank. I enquired whether I could save a GCB cross cheque into my Barclays account in Osu. “Yes, of course,” the cashier responded, and within five minutes, I had been relieved of that disappointment from the GCB. The next day when I checked my account with an ATM card, the savings had reflected.
I began to wonder why a GCB branch could not accept a cross cheque from the same branch to another branch of the same bank, and how a different bank had no problem accepting the cheque even into an account in a different branch. Strange, isn’t it? That is why there is good wisdom in the adage that “Do not keep your eggs in one basket”.
I was very much impressed with the service of Barclays Bank. But they also have their own bankruptcy to deal with.
Somewhere in early March this year when I went to the Osu branch of the bank for an ATM card, I was told the machine to produce the card had just broken down and that I should come back the following week. Two weeks later, I went to the bank and I was again told the machine had just broken down so I should come back the following week. I obliged for the third time and again, the service I got was “the machine has just spoiled”.
On the third occasion, I could not help telling the guy at the desk to stop lying and learn to appreciate sincerity, especially with customers. It was at that moment that he opened up and told me that fixing the machine would take a little while so I could go to any other branch to do my ATM card. Why then subject customers to that “go come, go come” business?
Still with the Barclays Bank, I had an appalling service from the bank when I opened another account at Osu recently. A lady attendant gave me a paper she claimed contains rules and regulations concerning my account. The characters of the printing are such that if you even use the strongest binoculars in the world, you can never read anything. But that is a document customers are supposed to read and better appreciate their contract with the bank. To a large extent, it is a legal document.
When I asked for something better, the lady told me that was all I could have. Two things immediately came to mind: Either the bank does not want customers to read the document and appreciate its contents or they simply want to insult the conscience and intelligence of customers. That is banking bankruptcy!
With such inefficiencies of our banks, is there any wonder that in this modern age, people do not value the relevance of banks and would prefer keeping their monies and valuables in the ground?
There is something awfully wrong with some of our banks and they must endeavour to reform and refine so as to restore public confidence in them.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
PARTIES PLEDGE TO ENSURE ROAD SAFETY 07/05/08 (Pg 48)
Story: Kofi Yeboah
POLITICAL parties in the country have pledged their commitment to a draft Road Safety Code to ensure that road accidents are minimised during the 2008 election period.
The need for the parties to adopt the code follows statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicating that road accidents increased during the two immediate past election years.
They made the pledge yesterday at a forum organised by the NRSC to discuss the draft Road Safety Code for the parties.
The code provides guidelines on the need for the political parties to plan their journeys, check the road worthiness of their vehicles, monitor the condition of their drivers and other critical issues that relate to road safety.
The forum was attended by representatives from nine political parties, namely, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the EGLE Party and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
The rest were the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), the National Renaissance Party (NRP), the Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD) and the Ghana National Party (GNP).
Statistics from the NRSC indicate that road accidents rose from 8,762 in 1999 to 11,007 in 2000 and again increased from 10,542 in 2003 to 12,175 in 2004.
The statistics further indicate that 60 per cent of road accidents are caused by speeding, while the economic cost to the nation is estimated at $165 million, representing 1.6 per cent of the gross domestic product.
The NRSC believes that the increase in road accidents during election years is due to the fact that road safety regulations are flouted with impunity by political parties during their campaigning.
The essence of the forum was, therefore, to lobby the leadership of the political parties to exert their influence on their followers with respect to obeying road regulations during the electioneering to reduce road accidents.
It also provides an opportunity for the NRSC to know the vision of the political parties on road safety in the country.
Regional road safety co-ordinators will hold similar fora with the leadership of political parties in the regions to discuss how best to implement the code, taking into consideration local circumstances.
The acting Executive Director of the NRSC, Mr Noble Appiah, said one of the challenges facing the country was the lack of commitment and dedication in implementing programmes and activities.
He expressed the hope that “all political parties will support the implementation of the Road Safety Code so that it does not become a mere document”.
Mr Appiah cautioned that posterity would not forgive them if they failed in their duty to collectively implement the code.
The Chairman of the NRSC, Mr Cliff Johnson Aboagye, said he was happy with the commitment expressed by the political parties to the code.
He said the NRSC was concerned about some of the road designs in the country, which he described as “too awful”.
He cited the Mankessim stretch of the Accra-Cape Coast Road which had more than 30 ramps, saying such a road design was “a matter of concern to the commission”.
Mr Aboagye said about a week ago, the NRSC invited road engineers to discuss how best to address those issues.
The representatives of the political parties expressed concern about the spate of road accidents in the country and called on all to join hands in the campaign to minimise the trend.
One major concern expressed by the parties was the roundabouts constructed on the new Kumasi Road, describing them as death traps.
They called on the authorities to do something about the situation, while urging the law enforcement agencies such as the police to strictly enforce road safety laws and regulations.
POLITICAL parties in the country have pledged their commitment to a draft Road Safety Code to ensure that road accidents are minimised during the 2008 election period.
The need for the parties to adopt the code follows statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicating that road accidents increased during the two immediate past election years.
They made the pledge yesterday at a forum organised by the NRSC to discuss the draft Road Safety Code for the parties.
The code provides guidelines on the need for the political parties to plan their journeys, check the road worthiness of their vehicles, monitor the condition of their drivers and other critical issues that relate to road safety.
The forum was attended by representatives from nine political parties, namely, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the EGLE Party and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
The rest were the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), the National Renaissance Party (NRP), the Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD) and the Ghana National Party (GNP).
Statistics from the NRSC indicate that road accidents rose from 8,762 in 1999 to 11,007 in 2000 and again increased from 10,542 in 2003 to 12,175 in 2004.
The statistics further indicate that 60 per cent of road accidents are caused by speeding, while the economic cost to the nation is estimated at $165 million, representing 1.6 per cent of the gross domestic product.
The NRSC believes that the increase in road accidents during election years is due to the fact that road safety regulations are flouted with impunity by political parties during their campaigning.
The essence of the forum was, therefore, to lobby the leadership of the political parties to exert their influence on their followers with respect to obeying road regulations during the electioneering to reduce road accidents.
It also provides an opportunity for the NRSC to know the vision of the political parties on road safety in the country.
Regional road safety co-ordinators will hold similar fora with the leadership of political parties in the regions to discuss how best to implement the code, taking into consideration local circumstances.
The acting Executive Director of the NRSC, Mr Noble Appiah, said one of the challenges facing the country was the lack of commitment and dedication in implementing programmes and activities.
He expressed the hope that “all political parties will support the implementation of the Road Safety Code so that it does not become a mere document”.
Mr Appiah cautioned that posterity would not forgive them if they failed in their duty to collectively implement the code.
The Chairman of the NRSC, Mr Cliff Johnson Aboagye, said he was happy with the commitment expressed by the political parties to the code.
He said the NRSC was concerned about some of the road designs in the country, which he described as “too awful”.
He cited the Mankessim stretch of the Accra-Cape Coast Road which had more than 30 ramps, saying such a road design was “a matter of concern to the commission”.
Mr Aboagye said about a week ago, the NRSC invited road engineers to discuss how best to address those issues.
The representatives of the political parties expressed concern about the spate of road accidents in the country and called on all to join hands in the campaign to minimise the trend.
One major concern expressed by the parties was the roundabouts constructed on the new Kumasi Road, describing them as death traps.
They called on the authorities to do something about the situation, while urging the law enforcement agencies such as the police to strictly enforce road safety laws and regulations.
AUDIT OF SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME BEGINS 08/05/08 (Pg 24/49)
Story: Kofi Yeboah
THE Ghana Audit Service has begun a nation-wide audit of the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
The exercise will cover activities of the programme at all the 975 beneficiary schools, the national secretariat, the national warehouse and the project office at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment for the 2006 and 2007 financial years.
The audit will focus on areas such as sources of funding, cash management, with particular attention on the transfer of funds to beneficiary schools, procurement, with particular attention on the award of contracts, stores management, with particular attention on the storage of perishable and non-perishable items, project management, with particular attention on project monitoring and evaluation, as well as payroll and other staff costs.
The Assistant Auditor-General in charge of Special Audits, Mr Kwamina Ghansah, who made this known to the Daily Graphic on Monday, said the exercise was expected to be undertaken over a five-month period, ending in September 2008.
The GSFP has been the subject of intense public discussion in recent times following the release of a report on an audit of the programme undertaken by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a private audit firm.
Armed with the findings of that report, the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a political pressure group, launched a campaign for the removal from office of the Executive Chairman of the GSFP, Dr Kwame Amoako-Tuffuor, accusing him of financial malfeasance.
Dr Amoako-Tuffuor was soon after relieved of his post.
The audit undertaken by PriceWaterhouse Coopers and the furore the report generated seem to have watered down the relevance of the exercise to be undertaken by the GAS, but Mr Ghansah strongly disagreed with that suggestion.
He said although the data the GAS would collect might not be different from what PriceWaterhouse Coopers collected, the difference might come from the presentation of the data, citing the classical “half bottle full and half bottle empty” analysis to buttress his point.
Mr Ghansah said the GAS was the only institution with a constitutional mandate to audit public accounts, saying that since the school feeding programme was a government-funded programme, the GAS had the mandate to audit its accounts, irrespective of a private audit that had already been carried out.
He said the GAS was further mandated by the Constitution to present its reports to Parliament and so the PriceWaterhouse Coopers report did not make any difference.
Mr Ghansah said the relevance of the GAS auditing also lay in the various issues raised by the CJA on the PriceWaterhouse Coopers report, suggesting that the report was not conclusive, for which reason the committee had called for further investigations.
“This needs additional work. We will take time to investigate all the issues raised,” he said.
During the five-month period of the audit, officials of the GAS will collect relevant information through structured interviews with officials of the school feeding programme and the supervising ministry, as well as make references from documents on the programme.
THE Ghana Audit Service has begun a nation-wide audit of the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
The exercise will cover activities of the programme at all the 975 beneficiary schools, the national secretariat, the national warehouse and the project office at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment for the 2006 and 2007 financial years.
The audit will focus on areas such as sources of funding, cash management, with particular attention on the transfer of funds to beneficiary schools, procurement, with particular attention on the award of contracts, stores management, with particular attention on the storage of perishable and non-perishable items, project management, with particular attention on project monitoring and evaluation, as well as payroll and other staff costs.
The Assistant Auditor-General in charge of Special Audits, Mr Kwamina Ghansah, who made this known to the Daily Graphic on Monday, said the exercise was expected to be undertaken over a five-month period, ending in September 2008.
The GSFP has been the subject of intense public discussion in recent times following the release of a report on an audit of the programme undertaken by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a private audit firm.
Armed with the findings of that report, the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a political pressure group, launched a campaign for the removal from office of the Executive Chairman of the GSFP, Dr Kwame Amoako-Tuffuor, accusing him of financial malfeasance.
Dr Amoako-Tuffuor was soon after relieved of his post.
The audit undertaken by PriceWaterhouse Coopers and the furore the report generated seem to have watered down the relevance of the exercise to be undertaken by the GAS, but Mr Ghansah strongly disagreed with that suggestion.
He said although the data the GAS would collect might not be different from what PriceWaterhouse Coopers collected, the difference might come from the presentation of the data, citing the classical “half bottle full and half bottle empty” analysis to buttress his point.
Mr Ghansah said the GAS was the only institution with a constitutional mandate to audit public accounts, saying that since the school feeding programme was a government-funded programme, the GAS had the mandate to audit its accounts, irrespective of a private audit that had already been carried out.
He said the GAS was further mandated by the Constitution to present its reports to Parliament and so the PriceWaterhouse Coopers report did not make any difference.
Mr Ghansah said the relevance of the GAS auditing also lay in the various issues raised by the CJA on the PriceWaterhouse Coopers report, suggesting that the report was not conclusive, for which reason the committee had called for further investigations.
“This needs additional work. We will take time to investigate all the issues raised,” he said.
During the five-month period of the audit, officials of the GAS will collect relevant information through structured interviews with officials of the school feeding programme and the supervising ministry, as well as make references from documents on the programme.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Significance of private broadcasting to national development 02/05/08 (P.7)
By: Kofi Yeboah
ONE colonial governor to whom Ghanaians must forever be grateful is Sir Arnold Hodson. He brought the nation freedom and joy more than two decades before Dr Kwame Nkrumah proclaimed independence for Ghana in 1957. That freedom and joy is radio, a legacy that has today become a critical aspect of the country’s overall development.
Sir Hodson introduced radio into the country on July 31, 1935 and right from that day, Ghanaians have been overwhelmed by the magic of radio.
As captured in a 1985 publication of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) titled, “50 years of broadcasting in Ghana”, the people of Accra went wild with excitement when they heard the voice of Hodson on Station ZOY, the first ever live radio broadcast in the country.
“The shouts were loud and deafening as the crowd roared out: ‘This is simply wonderful; radio comes to the Gold Coast Indeed’”, the publication recalls.
It further notes that the excitement about radio was even greater during the Second World War as listeners clung to their radio sets for updates on the war. As established in my academic research project to the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana (2001), the power and influence of radio being the most effective means of getting information across to the masses, makes the medium a critical asset for the prosecution of any kind of agenda.
In his GBC Golden Jubilee lectures in 1985, the late Communications Icon, Prof P. A. V. Ansah, asserts that Hodson’s idea of establishing Station ZOY was “to cater for the information, cultural and entertainment needs of the political and educated elite who consisted of European settlers, colonial administrators and the small groups of educated Africans”.
Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, had different ideas about the relevance of radio. He sought to use the medium to strengthen national integration and to propagate the agenda for the emancipation of Africa.
Although the ideas of Hodson and Nkrumah about the use of radio seem to run parallel, their thoughts demonstrate a common convergence in terms of the importance governments and politicians attach to the medium. To military adventurers in particular, radio is even more critical to the extent, as Prof Ansah notes in his GBC Golden Jubilee Lectures, that, “whether a coup attempt succeeds or not is determined by who gets control of the radio station; any bid for power, therefore, seems to have the following operational principle; ‘seek ye first the radio station and its effectiveness and all other things shall be added unto it’”.
That observation by Prof Ansah is, perhaps, the reason why various governments, past and present, but more particularly military regimes, have gone every length to maintain a firm grip on the national radio station, which enjoyed absolute monopoly for six decades. Instead of using radio for its traditional functions of educating, informing and entertaining the people, they used it largely for propaganda purposes, diluting the excitement and interest with which many people had welcomed the medium at its introduction.
Prof Ansah again observes that the credibility and professional integrity of a broadcasting system is deeply undermined if it only seeks the interest of the government. “When the system’s credibility is subverted by its reputation for even occasional distortion and suppression of facts, it ceases to be an effective medium for carrying persuasive messages towards national integration or national development in general”, he says.
Indeed, for more than six decades that the GBC monopolised the broadcasting industry, various governments used the national radio and television stations as pawns to prosecute their agenda and propaganda. The national broadcast station, thus, failed in its traditional duty as a credible watchdog to hold the government accountable to the people.
Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, the man who established the first private radio station in Ghana, finds the bias of Radio Ghana in favour of the government, for instance, very worrying. In a lecture delivered in 1996 on the topic, “The Fourth Republic of Ghana will last for a hundred years. True or false”?, he remarks, “If anybody can tell me the last time they heard a GBC news commentary critical of, or written by a well known adversary of the government, I shall take off my Tarzan’s loin cloth. Fact is that it will never happen and I shall be spared the ‘black blushes’”.
With such perception about the national broadcasting station, it was not surprising that many Ghanaians hailed the country’s transition into a constitutional regime under the Fourth Republic with guaranteed freedom of expression and of the media. The promulgation of the 1992 Constitution gave the impetus for the establishment of private broadcasting stations, thus breaking the monopoly of the GBC.
Article 162 (3) of the constitution provides that, “There shall be no impediments to the establishment of private press or media; and in particular, there shall be no law requiring any person to obtain a license as a pre-requisite for the establishment or operation of a newspaper, journal or other media for mass communication or information”.
In spite of the constitutional guarantee for freedom of expression and the establishment of private media, the political environment under the regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was still hostile to the establishment of private broadcasting institutions. It took the bold initiative of Dr Wereko-Brobby to give meaning to the constitution by establishing Radio Eye, the first private radio station in the country in 1994, albeit without authorisation from the National Communication Authority (NCA).
It was almost 60 years since Hodson introduced broadcasting into the country but the ecstasy that greeted the birth of Radio Eye was unimaginable. It demonstrated the hunger of the people for a new experience and their anger against the government’s manipulation of the GBC.
Unfortunately, Radio Eye survived for only 24 hours as armed soldiers moved in swiftly to close the station down before the people got intoxicated with excitement. The short life span of the station notwithstanding, its establishment generated intense public concern for the liberalisation of the airwaves and, indeed, that opened the womb for the birth of other private broadcasting stations.
Subsequently, the government yielded to public demand for the liberalisation of the airwaves and in July 1995, Joy FM, in symbiotic relationship with GBC, became the first established private radio station under the liberal dispensation. In the same year, 1995, more than 38 television authorisations were granted with a deadline to commence transmission by December 1996. Out of the 38 authorised private stations, only one, Crystal TV, was able to beat the deadline to get on-air.
Eighteen years???? down the lane, the trail blazers and the more than 100 private radio and television stations operating in all the four corners of the country have become masters in the art of broadcasting, with some reaching out to listeners and viewers even beyond the borders of Ghana.
The impact of the private electronic media on the lives of Ghanaians and overall national development has been very spectacular and immeasurable. The emergence of the private electronic media granted the public one basic human right — choice.
That right was even more desirable given the monopoly of the GBC over a long period of time. The variety of news and programming that the private radio stations brought to the fore injected innovation, quality and competition in the broadcasting industry. No wonder they made a strong impression on the public. The monopoly of the GBC was effectively broken.
Beyond giving the public preferences, the private broadcasting stations have also broadened the scope of the traditional functions of the media—- to educate, entertain and inform. They have helped, in no small measure, to carry out information about government business and other social activities to the wider public all over the country to complement the efforts of the national broadcasting stations in carrying out such information.
Again, the private radio stations have also been extremely useful in carrying information from the public to the government and other agencies about critical issues affecting the public. It is very common, for instance, to find people calling radio stations on telephone to report of criminal activities or emergency situations, which are quickly relayed to the police and other appropriate authorities for prompt action.
One area in which the private broadcasting media have made a huge impact is the deepening of participatory democracy in the country. Phone-in programmes and other innovations introduced by some of the stations have enabled many people to actively participate in the democratic process by expressing their views and opinions on various national issues.
The people now seem to have a sense of respect, appreciation and belonging. Their understanding of democracy has been deepened and they are no longer fertile minds for deception.
The significant role played by the electronic media in the 2000 and 2004 general elections has been well documented as unprecedented in the political history of the country. Apart from giving on-the-spot account of the electoral processes, the private broadcasting stations also carried live reports of events up to the declaration of the final results. Many political analysts believe that the success of the last two general elections could find reason in the significant role played by private radio and television stations in particular and the media in general.
Again, the private broadcasting institutions have contributed significantly to addressing the huge unemployment problem in the country. The industry employs more than 20,000 people, mostly the youth. That alone, has helped to decongest the system of disenchanted unemployed graduates.
In spite of their positive contribution to national development, the private broadcasting industry has come under strong criticism by a section of the public for what largely borders on the lack of professionalism exhibited by some practitioners in the industry. Concerns have been raised, for instance, about poor quality of news and programming, vulgarism and inflammatory remarks on some of the radio stations.
Such concerns emanate from the realisation that like fire, radio or the electronic media is a good servant but could be a very bad master.
Certainly, many of those concerns are very legitimate. Some of the private stations have paid little regard to professional and ethical obligations. Some of them don’t seem to have any quality programming.
With the view to helping to overcome these and many other challenges in the industry, the Association of Private Broadcasting Companies was formed in 1996. By 2004, it became obvious that the aims and objectives of the earlier umbrella body had grown bigger and therefore it was transformed into the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).
Apart from seeking the interests of its members, the GIBA has been working assiduously at training its members. The aim is to ensure an increased capacity for the members in every corner of the country to international standards. It is to the credit of GIBA, therefore, that one of her members has taken the bold step of exporting Ghana’s brand of private broadcasting to a neighbouring country.
The fact is that private broadcasting has engendered excitement, no doubt. But it can also be a very dangerous weapon of mass destruction when left in the hands of the unprofessional. That is the more reason why the Broadcasting Standard published by the National Media Commission (NMC) must be enforced together with standards set by the GIBA, with the view to regulating the industry to ensure high professional standards.
On a balance sheet however, the private broadcast industry has been more of a blessing to the nation than a curse. They have filled a huge vacuum in the broadcasting industry created during the period of monopoly by the GBC. They deserve the support of all to enable them give off their best to the nation.
ONE colonial governor to whom Ghanaians must forever be grateful is Sir Arnold Hodson. He brought the nation freedom and joy more than two decades before Dr Kwame Nkrumah proclaimed independence for Ghana in 1957. That freedom and joy is radio, a legacy that has today become a critical aspect of the country’s overall development.
Sir Hodson introduced radio into the country on July 31, 1935 and right from that day, Ghanaians have been overwhelmed by the magic of radio.
As captured in a 1985 publication of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) titled, “50 years of broadcasting in Ghana”, the people of Accra went wild with excitement when they heard the voice of Hodson on Station ZOY, the first ever live radio broadcast in the country.
“The shouts were loud and deafening as the crowd roared out: ‘This is simply wonderful; radio comes to the Gold Coast Indeed’”, the publication recalls.
It further notes that the excitement about radio was even greater during the Second World War as listeners clung to their radio sets for updates on the war. As established in my academic research project to the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana (2001), the power and influence of radio being the most effective means of getting information across to the masses, makes the medium a critical asset for the prosecution of any kind of agenda.
In his GBC Golden Jubilee lectures in 1985, the late Communications Icon, Prof P. A. V. Ansah, asserts that Hodson’s idea of establishing Station ZOY was “to cater for the information, cultural and entertainment needs of the political and educated elite who consisted of European settlers, colonial administrators and the small groups of educated Africans”.
Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, had different ideas about the relevance of radio. He sought to use the medium to strengthen national integration and to propagate the agenda for the emancipation of Africa.
Although the ideas of Hodson and Nkrumah about the use of radio seem to run parallel, their thoughts demonstrate a common convergence in terms of the importance governments and politicians attach to the medium. To military adventurers in particular, radio is even more critical to the extent, as Prof Ansah notes in his GBC Golden Jubilee Lectures, that, “whether a coup attempt succeeds or not is determined by who gets control of the radio station; any bid for power, therefore, seems to have the following operational principle; ‘seek ye first the radio station and its effectiveness and all other things shall be added unto it’”.
That observation by Prof Ansah is, perhaps, the reason why various governments, past and present, but more particularly military regimes, have gone every length to maintain a firm grip on the national radio station, which enjoyed absolute monopoly for six decades. Instead of using radio for its traditional functions of educating, informing and entertaining the people, they used it largely for propaganda purposes, diluting the excitement and interest with which many people had welcomed the medium at its introduction.
Prof Ansah again observes that the credibility and professional integrity of a broadcasting system is deeply undermined if it only seeks the interest of the government. “When the system’s credibility is subverted by its reputation for even occasional distortion and suppression of facts, it ceases to be an effective medium for carrying persuasive messages towards national integration or national development in general”, he says.
Indeed, for more than six decades that the GBC monopolised the broadcasting industry, various governments used the national radio and television stations as pawns to prosecute their agenda and propaganda. The national broadcast station, thus, failed in its traditional duty as a credible watchdog to hold the government accountable to the people.
Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, the man who established the first private radio station in Ghana, finds the bias of Radio Ghana in favour of the government, for instance, very worrying. In a lecture delivered in 1996 on the topic, “The Fourth Republic of Ghana will last for a hundred years. True or false”?, he remarks, “If anybody can tell me the last time they heard a GBC news commentary critical of, or written by a well known adversary of the government, I shall take off my Tarzan’s loin cloth. Fact is that it will never happen and I shall be spared the ‘black blushes’”.
With such perception about the national broadcasting station, it was not surprising that many Ghanaians hailed the country’s transition into a constitutional regime under the Fourth Republic with guaranteed freedom of expression and of the media. The promulgation of the 1992 Constitution gave the impetus for the establishment of private broadcasting stations, thus breaking the monopoly of the GBC.
Article 162 (3) of the constitution provides that, “There shall be no impediments to the establishment of private press or media; and in particular, there shall be no law requiring any person to obtain a license as a pre-requisite for the establishment or operation of a newspaper, journal or other media for mass communication or information”.
In spite of the constitutional guarantee for freedom of expression and the establishment of private media, the political environment under the regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was still hostile to the establishment of private broadcasting institutions. It took the bold initiative of Dr Wereko-Brobby to give meaning to the constitution by establishing Radio Eye, the first private radio station in the country in 1994, albeit without authorisation from the National Communication Authority (NCA).
It was almost 60 years since Hodson introduced broadcasting into the country but the ecstasy that greeted the birth of Radio Eye was unimaginable. It demonstrated the hunger of the people for a new experience and their anger against the government’s manipulation of the GBC.
Unfortunately, Radio Eye survived for only 24 hours as armed soldiers moved in swiftly to close the station down before the people got intoxicated with excitement. The short life span of the station notwithstanding, its establishment generated intense public concern for the liberalisation of the airwaves and, indeed, that opened the womb for the birth of other private broadcasting stations.
Subsequently, the government yielded to public demand for the liberalisation of the airwaves and in July 1995, Joy FM, in symbiotic relationship with GBC, became the first established private radio station under the liberal dispensation. In the same year, 1995, more than 38 television authorisations were granted with a deadline to commence transmission by December 1996. Out of the 38 authorised private stations, only one, Crystal TV, was able to beat the deadline to get on-air.
Eighteen years???? down the lane, the trail blazers and the more than 100 private radio and television stations operating in all the four corners of the country have become masters in the art of broadcasting, with some reaching out to listeners and viewers even beyond the borders of Ghana.
The impact of the private electronic media on the lives of Ghanaians and overall national development has been very spectacular and immeasurable. The emergence of the private electronic media granted the public one basic human right — choice.
That right was even more desirable given the monopoly of the GBC over a long period of time. The variety of news and programming that the private radio stations brought to the fore injected innovation, quality and competition in the broadcasting industry. No wonder they made a strong impression on the public. The monopoly of the GBC was effectively broken.
Beyond giving the public preferences, the private broadcasting stations have also broadened the scope of the traditional functions of the media—- to educate, entertain and inform. They have helped, in no small measure, to carry out information about government business and other social activities to the wider public all over the country to complement the efforts of the national broadcasting stations in carrying out such information.
Again, the private radio stations have also been extremely useful in carrying information from the public to the government and other agencies about critical issues affecting the public. It is very common, for instance, to find people calling radio stations on telephone to report of criminal activities or emergency situations, which are quickly relayed to the police and other appropriate authorities for prompt action.
One area in which the private broadcasting media have made a huge impact is the deepening of participatory democracy in the country. Phone-in programmes and other innovations introduced by some of the stations have enabled many people to actively participate in the democratic process by expressing their views and opinions on various national issues.
The people now seem to have a sense of respect, appreciation and belonging. Their understanding of democracy has been deepened and they are no longer fertile minds for deception.
The significant role played by the electronic media in the 2000 and 2004 general elections has been well documented as unprecedented in the political history of the country. Apart from giving on-the-spot account of the electoral processes, the private broadcasting stations also carried live reports of events up to the declaration of the final results. Many political analysts believe that the success of the last two general elections could find reason in the significant role played by private radio and television stations in particular and the media in general.
Again, the private broadcasting institutions have contributed significantly to addressing the huge unemployment problem in the country. The industry employs more than 20,000 people, mostly the youth. That alone, has helped to decongest the system of disenchanted unemployed graduates.
In spite of their positive contribution to national development, the private broadcasting industry has come under strong criticism by a section of the public for what largely borders on the lack of professionalism exhibited by some practitioners in the industry. Concerns have been raised, for instance, about poor quality of news and programming, vulgarism and inflammatory remarks on some of the radio stations.
Such concerns emanate from the realisation that like fire, radio or the electronic media is a good servant but could be a very bad master.
Certainly, many of those concerns are very legitimate. Some of the private stations have paid little regard to professional and ethical obligations. Some of them don’t seem to have any quality programming.
With the view to helping to overcome these and many other challenges in the industry, the Association of Private Broadcasting Companies was formed in 1996. By 2004, it became obvious that the aims and objectives of the earlier umbrella body had grown bigger and therefore it was transformed into the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).
Apart from seeking the interests of its members, the GIBA has been working assiduously at training its members. The aim is to ensure an increased capacity for the members in every corner of the country to international standards. It is to the credit of GIBA, therefore, that one of her members has taken the bold step of exporting Ghana’s brand of private broadcasting to a neighbouring country.
The fact is that private broadcasting has engendered excitement, no doubt. But it can also be a very dangerous weapon of mass destruction when left in the hands of the unprofessional. That is the more reason why the Broadcasting Standard published by the National Media Commission (NMC) must be enforced together with standards set by the GIBA, with the view to regulating the industry to ensure high professional standards.
On a balance sheet however, the private broadcast industry has been more of a blessing to the nation than a curse. They have filled a huge vacuum in the broadcasting industry created during the period of monopoly by the GBC. They deserve the support of all to enable them give off their best to the nation.
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