GBC encourages voluntarily payment of TV Licence

The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has re-stated that although the Chief Justice has approved the setting up of a court to try defaulters of television licence payment, the objective of the organisation was still to encourage voluntary payment.

The corporation says it has noted with concern the apprehension expressed by the public on the possibility of prosecution but want to assure the general public that “its primary concern is to encourage all and sundry to voluntarily pay the TV Licence Fee”.

Commercial advertising

A statement signed by the Director-General of GBC, Dr Kwame Akuffo Anoff-Ntow, which was released on Friday, January 5, 2017, said the GBC took into consideration the concerns that the corporation was engaged in some commercial activity that should help fund its activities, but the effectiveness of a licensing regime could help to completely wean it off commercial advertising.

According to the statement, “programme diversity and content should not be driven on the wheels of commercial concerns.”

The statement cited the role of other well-established public broadcasting organisations around the globe and added that the relevance of GBC presently reflected in its constitutional mandate, which compels it to “cover national events, promote inclusion and drive the nation’s developmental effort”.

The release further encouraged the public who it identified as “critical partners” to “engage the corporation to ensure that their concerns with respect to GBC’s operations are fully addressed”.