NMC directs GBC board to appoint Acting Director-General

The National Media Commission (NMC) has directed the Board of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to appoint an acting director-general for the corporation.

In a statement, the NMC said the acting director-general must be from the management of GBC and should take over the operations of the company from the current interim management committee.

The directive from the NMC comes barely a week after the board directed the Managing Director of the state broadcaster, Dr Kwame Akuffo Anoff-Ntow, to proceed on leave over his handling of the TV licence issue.

There was a backlash after Dr Anoff-Ntow successfully petitioned the Chief Justice to set up some 11 courts nationwide to prosecute defaulters of TV licence fees.

He, however, rejected the board’s directive for him to proceed on leave, arguing that it was only the NMC that could issue such a directive.
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) also described the move as wrong and called for Dr Anoff-Ntow’s reinstatement.

NMC directive

In its statement, the NMC also directed the GBC board to bring Dr Anoff-Ntow’s matter to a determination and report back to the commission within a month.

“The NMC recognises the board’s authority to determine matters of leave relating to the director-general. However, the commission has directed the board to determine the matters before it and report to the commission within one month in order to inform the NMC’s decision relating to all the issues at stake,’’ it said.

According to the statement, the NMC was committed to “insulating the state-owned media from government control”.

“At the same time, the commission shall, at all times, ensure that proper corporate governance principles pertain in all state-owned media,’’ it added.