In 2007 when Prof. Kwame Karikari delivered the 72nd Annual Lecture series of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, he spoke against the proposal of establishing an independent broadcasting station of Parliament, not because it is not useful, but to underline the fact that the GBC was more than suited to perform that duty of providing a channel exclusively to broadcast the activities of the Legislature for the benefit of our people.
I added my voice to the call when I had the opportunity to present the 74th Annual GBC Lecture series.
Eighteen years on, Parliament has defied the advice to allow GBC to take up the responsibility of providing a comprehensive coverage of Parliament with a dedicated channel.
Parliament has established a television station, renting a channel from the GBC DTT platform and begun a test transmission.
Our elders tell us that if the sports will be interesting and competitive, it begins from the morning " agro beso a efiri anopa" and that if the corn has a good cob, that is observable from how it sprouts " aburo bebo kese a, efiri ne mfifiri ye mu".
While it can be argued that running an electronic media system has become cheaper now because of digitisation and the fact that transmission technology has become communal, more importantly, running on existing infrastructure mostly owned by the state through the GBC, there is a need for human capital.
All things being equal, journalists recruited by Parliament will be better remunerated because they will serve under the Parliamentary Service than the staff of GBC, although they would be performing similar duties and working for the state.
Irony
The irony is that as a nation, we openly admit that we lack resources to properly and generously offer conditions of service that would attract the best of every professional group in the public sector.
When we splinter establishments with concomitant discriminatory remuneration packages, we render unattractive the conditions of service in the public sector and encourage the private sector to poach the most technically competent professionals.
But, it has been proven beyond measure that when the best quality human resources operate within the public sector, it serves to accelerate national development and provide incentives to the private sector to grow.
A competent public sector is the engine of growth for the private sector.
Many Members of Parliament have openly lauded the idea of Parliament having a television station, and subsequently praised the initiative of the Speaker, Rt Hon. A.S.K. Bagbin.
However, the focus of their comments and enthusiasm has been that the activities of Parliament will now be open to the public to enable our people to appreciate what they do.
None of them has commented on the cost to the nation for having a station operated by Parliament, as opposed to a dedicated channel operated by the GBC.
As a matter of fact, Parliament as a body has been more enthusiastic about paying for broadcast services provided by private entities than for the GBC.
Indeed, information from certain sources points to the fact that personnel operating the Parliament television station were recruited some two years ago and have received a salary since then in anticipation of the establishment of the station, which has now materialised to become a reality.
Over the last few months that Parliament TV has been transmitting, we need to know how much has been expended to enable us to openly discuss whether an independent Parliament TV is a luxury or a necessity.
Since it started test transmission, there have been some productive, as well as dysfunctional, programmes on the station.
Recently, I watched the sittings of the Parliamentary Committee on Decentralisation and Rural Development with District Chief Executives to look at Audit Statements on the operations of the assemblies.
Although some of the deliberations turned into partisan jabs, especially relating to the relationships of the chief executives and sitting MPs, it could be the means to contain the misuse and misappropriation of public funds, as well as fight corruptible practices and corruption, which are widespread and endemic in almost all public institutions, including ministries, departments, agencies and district assemblies.
No positive impact
We have also seen and watched programmes and films that do not have any positive impact on our national development.
On our Parliament TV, we watch films that do not have any utility value, some of which necessitated the New World Information and Communication Order, which prompted the charge of cultural imperialism.
That is what prompted the Venerated Prof. PAV Ansah to state in the Golden Anniversary Lecture of the GBC in 1985 that " ...
If, therefore, we want to use broadcasting to promote our culture while allowing in suitable cultural imports, it is incumbent that we make funds available for the production of local programmes.
There is certainly no lack of technical expertise and artistic talent. What is lacking is the money for the necessary equipment and supplies to realise their full potential.
If this situation is not arrested so that we can use our audio-visual media to project our own cultures, we shall forever remain slaves and wards of alien cultures".
Studios lie idle
The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation has numerous production studios lying idle in the regions because there is no funding for the production of local programmes.
Thus, the corporation is more than ready and prepared to offer comprehensive and professional coverage of all the activities of Parliament if we are willing to provide it with the necessary financial and technological support to do the work.
The human resources already exist, and even if new sets of competencies are required, it would cost less to make such quality available to the GBC than assembling such human capital to form an autonomous Parliament TV station.
"Adee nsae mpo na nkwanta ayera yen", to wit, it is not evening yet we are lost at the junction, as Parliament TV is seeking advertisement and is unable to make functional use of the airtime, showing films of low value and playing music for hours.
Since it is better late than never and ‘wosan ko wakyi kofa a yen nkyiri nti (it is not wrong to rethink an issue and make amends), Parliament must rethink how best to keep our people in touch with our elected representatives by ceding all the resources mobilised for the operation of the station, with the needed recurrent expenditure, to the GBC, as a public service broadcasting organisation to operate as is the case in certain jurisdictions.
That is how to make the GBC relevant and critical to national development. Covering Parliament comprehensively and accurately lies at the heart of public service broadcasting.
