Abstract:
This
is a
critical evaluation
of the
media legislation
in
Ghana since
independence.
It
reveals the chequered government-press relationship
that perpetuated
a
timid press
in
Ghana, but which
is
tending
to
thaw
under
the
weight
the new
media legislations promulgated
by the
reformed President Jerry Rawlings' government.
The article gives
an
instructive glimpse into the press.
It
argues that
the former president sought
to
use
the
media
as a
tool
for
propaganda
and ideological indoctrination, which he wrongly believed was necessary
not only
for
national
and
continental unity
but
also
for
Ghana's
economic
and
political maturity.
The author argues that the Pan-Africanist president engineered
the
enactment of media laws that were aimed
at
entrenching his monopolist
economic policies
as
well
as his
endeavour
to
establish political
monotheism and strong anti-imperialist stand in Ghana. The inevitable
result was
a
complete strangulation
of the
press, culminating
in the
state emerging
as the
sole player
in the
industry. Freedom
of
expression became inconsistent with
his
"consciencism", therefore,
was utterly denied. Human rights was indeed treated with contempt
by
the
CPP government,
if
the harsh legislations
are to go by.
Surprisingly,
the
media
in
Ghana
got
their first states
of
pseudo-
31
freedom under a military junta, led by military strongman, Busia.
This weak tolerance of press freedom and, by extension, civil liberties,
was continued by Dr. HuUa Limann's government. The use of satellite
dishes were allowed under this Third Reich for the time in Ghana.
That notwithstanding, both the regimes failed to decriminalize
libel and repeal draconian sedition laws, that negatively impacted on
media operations. The paper also points out that the state monopoly
of the airwaves remained intact. Likewise, the paper argues, any
perceived press liberties in Ghana were impaired and contradicted by
legal decrees like the Provision of Rumours Decree, which criminalized
broadcasting or printing of anything seen to be against the National
Liberation Council, the Police or the Armed Forces. This, the author
says,
created a widespread 'culture of silence' among media
practitioners.
The author recognizes the positive developments in the media
industry by way of relatively friendly media bills, but, at the same
time,
regrets the lack of a clear policy to deal with the New Information
World Order. He picks issues with the domination of the Ghanaian
broadcast media by cheap, culturally imperialistic, alien programmes.
The lackadaisical development of the rural press is lambasted while
calling on the government to protect the poor's right to relevant
information and their sources. The paper concludes by calling for the
creation of a truly democratized legal infrastructure for the media to
enable them to participate actively and fully in national development