After failing to provide a solid defence for government’s embarrassing attempt to stifle media freedom, Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim-Boateng is now blaming ‘some people at the National Communication Authority (NCA)’ of facilitating media tyranny by overly concentrating media in the hands of a few Ghanaians.
Just a day after government yielded to the wide-spread local and international criticism and called off its boycott of the Multimedia platforms, frustrated James Agyenim-Boateng was on Joy FM Newsfile [aired live on MultiTV] on Saturday suggesting that the NCA is to blame for the creation of powerful media networks like Multimedia.
“Indeed I am one of those who think that some people at the NCA have let this country down by overly concentrating media in the hands of one, two or three individuals – I think that is a matter that in the future all of us may have to look at,” he said.
This was after James Agyenim-Boateng, a trained journalist, had feebly attempted to explain the litany of accusations government brought against Multimedia for which they decided to boycott the network and treat its journalists as gate crashers if they [the journalists] attended state functions or functions organised by government institutions and agencies.
Government initially stated it boycotted the whole of Multimedia because Joy FM did not report that some NPP youth stormed the premises Asempa FM [same as Joy FM]; but that turned out to be false, because Joy FM reported it for 15 long minutes and Multi TV covered it live, whiles myjoyonline.com also published with pictures.
The government came back with a litany of accusations against Multimedia, part of which exposed government’s refusal to recognise the due process followed in everyone of the issues , and the other part exposed government’s engagement in distortion [with respect to dividends for GBC] and claim to control investment decisions at SSNIT.
Newsfile host, Sampson Ladi Ayenini tackled every one of the accusations the government brought against Multimedia and ably explained that for each of them, due process was followed, and all parties, including government, were given fair hearing in the form of reactions and rejoinders on radio.
In the particular case of the infamous ‘Amina-Yutong bus saga’, the host explained that the matter is still in court process so there was no point in government calling for a retraction.
On the specific matter of government accusing Multimedia of not paying dividends to GBC for being 10% shareholders of Multimedia, it was ably explained in a press statement from Multimedia that all dividends have been paid, except for two years, because all shareholders [including GBC] agreed that due to expansion, dividends for those two years should not be paid.
New Crusading Guide Editor-In-Chief, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako also pointed out that government’s claim that it facilitated SSNIT’s purchase of shares in Multimedia, exposed government as manipulating investment decisions at SSNIT, and that was dangerous because SSNIT is an autonomous body created by law.
He described the boycott and subsequent accusations against Multimedia, and particularly the bit about GBC and SSNIT in government’s statement as retrogade and an ‘unprecedented and gargantuan gaffe’ that tantamount to government shooting itself in the foot.
At this point, James Agyenim-Boateng may have realised he was standing in sinking sands so he resorted to protracted giggling, which rudely interfered with the flow of discussion and he was called to order.
Spokesperson for former President Rawlings, Kofi Adams, who had earlier defied the boycott and described it as a bad decision in an election year, noted that the boycott was going to be difficult to implement, particularly because Multimedia was a huge and an important media platform.
This was where the honourable Deputy Minister then charged on NCA and stated that the NCA had done the country a disservice by overly concentrating media in the hand of a few people to establish powerful media networks [like Multimedia].
Former Press Secretary at the Castle (under the Kufuor administration], Kwabena Agyepong noted that the government had no reason for boycotting Multimedia, other than the suspension of the host of Ekosii Sen, Kwabena Bobie Ansah, whom he described as the ‘NDC propagandist tool’ at Multimedia.
He said the NDC was naturally media unfriendly and the boycott was enough evidence of that, adding that since NDC returned to power it had denied access to some media houses to the Castle, unlike when the NPP was in power and gave even pro-NDC newspapers access to the president.
Mr. Agyapong said President John Evans Ata Mills could not pretend not to know about what is going on, because if he was not part of it then it was more serious because Ghanaians have been made to know the decision to boycott Multimedia was an official decision.
“As former Press Secretary at the Castle I can tell you that you never take decision on your own as Press Secretary because our presidency is an executive one – so the President and his Vice cannot tell us they are not part of the decision to boycott,” he said.
Mr. Agyapong said the state must stop paying the numerous members of the government communication team who go about doing propaganda for the NDC, adding that if the party could afford to pay communication team members, that was fine, but the state could not keep paying people to do party propaganda.
Meanwhile, for the few days that the boycott was in place, some cabinet ministers and [like Mr. Alban Bagbin], and party gurus [like Kofi Adams] defied it and appeared on the multimedia networks, and some even openly criticised the boycott as the worse decision in an election year.