TUC building, Accra
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29th January, 2010
Review Annual TV Licence Fee - TUC
The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) of Ghana has supported the call for the upward review of the annual television licensing fee to enable the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to raise enough revenue for its activities.
It said the current annual fee of 30 Gp was woefully inadequate and suggested the GH¢15 proposed by the corporation should be up held.
It further suggested that when approved, the fee should be deducted at source workers salary to ensure compliance.
He was speaking at the national delegates conference of the Public Sector Workers Union (PSWU) of GBC here in Kumasi, Seth Abloso, Acting Head of Industrial Relations and Social Protection Department of the TUC.
He said that as the representatives of the people, they should lead by example by allowing the deduction at source to start from them.
Mr. Abloso regretted many Ghanaians have forgotten so soon the valuable public services that the corporation had rendered to the nation before the advert of media pluralism.
He cited the example of Everyday English programme broadcast every morning. He said the private stations have been able to copy all the other programmes of GBC with the exception of this one.
“This should tell you that GBC and the private stations do not have the same focus,” he stated.
According to him, the public services offered by the station can not be quantified and thus called for support for GBC to deliver on its mandate.
Mr. Abloso also called on members of the union to close their ranks and work together as a team to partner management in the running of the corporation.
“You need to presence the unity of the union, splinter groups should not be encouraged,” he advised, noting that although freedom of association was guaranteed by the constitution “if all of us want to exercise and stretch the freedoms to their absolute value, there will be chaos in this country.”
Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission, who was the guest of honour, also stressed on the need to resource the corporation adequately to enable it to perform its functions as required by the law.
He said GBC was one of the few state institutions that so little has been given to but much was expected from it.
He said unlike the private media, GBC was expected to satisfy all interest groups in the country without discrimination.
This, Mr. Blay-Amihere, explained, put enormous pressure on the nation broadcaster’s limited resources.
He said the liberalization of the airwaves have compounded the challenges facing the station as people tried to compare it with the profit oriented ones.
The chairman of the NMC also commended the corporation for maintaining the high professional standard which he said has become its hallmark, though he observed that it could be improved.
He called on especially private media owners or those seeking to establish media houses to ensure that they empty professionals and to organise in house training programmes for their staff.
He decried the level of professionalism in the industry which he said was at its lowest ebb and warned that if care was taken, the freedom of expression being enjoyed could be jeopardized.
He said there were examples in contempary time where nations had to enact laws to restrict freedom of expression as a result of its abuse by the media, saying “don’t take this freedom for granted.”
The Director General of GBC, William Apem-Darko, for his part, said the criticisms of the station by the public was as a result of the latter’s lack of understanding of the role of the public broadcaster.
He said the focus of the station was not to make profit but to promote national cohesion and democratic governance.
The three day extraordinary conference will end of Friday, January 29 with the election of new national executive for the union. It is on the theme “Emerging Challenges of Public broadcasting, the role of the union.”
It said the current annual fee of 30 Gp was woefully inadequate and suggested the GH¢15 proposed by the corporation should be up held.
It further suggested that when approved, the fee should be deducted at source workers salary to ensure compliance.
He was speaking at the national delegates conference of the Public Sector Workers Union (PSWU) of GBC here in Kumasi, Seth Abloso, Acting Head of Industrial Relations and Social Protection Department of the TUC.
He said that as the representatives of the people, they should lead by example by allowing the deduction at source to start from them.
Mr. Abloso regretted many Ghanaians have forgotten so soon the valuable public services that the corporation had rendered to the nation before the advert of media pluralism.
He cited the example of Everyday English programme broadcast every morning. He said the private stations have been able to copy all the other programmes of GBC with the exception of this one.
“This should tell you that GBC and the private stations do not have the same focus,” he stated.
According to him, the public services offered by the station can not be quantified and thus called for support for GBC to deliver on its mandate.
Mr. Abloso also called on members of the union to close their ranks and work together as a team to partner management in the running of the corporation.
“You need to presence the unity of the union, splinter groups should not be encouraged,” he advised, noting that although freedom of association was guaranteed by the constitution “if all of us want to exercise and stretch the freedoms to their absolute value, there will be chaos in this country.”
Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission, who was the guest of honour, also stressed on the need to resource the corporation adequately to enable it to perform its functions as required by the law.
He said GBC was one of the few state institutions that so little has been given to but much was expected from it.
He said unlike the private media, GBC was expected to satisfy all interest groups in the country without discrimination.
This, Mr. Blay-Amihere, explained, put enormous pressure on the nation broadcaster’s limited resources.
He said the liberalization of the airwaves have compounded the challenges facing the station as people tried to compare it with the profit oriented ones.
The chairman of the NMC also commended the corporation for maintaining the high professional standard which he said has become its hallmark, though he observed that it could be improved.
He called on especially private media owners or those seeking to establish media houses to ensure that they empty professionals and to organise in house training programmes for their staff.
He decried the level of professionalism in the industry which he said was at its lowest ebb and warned that if care was taken, the freedom of expression being enjoyed could be jeopardized.
He said there were examples in contempary time where nations had to enact laws to restrict freedom of expression as a result of its abuse by the media, saying “don’t take this freedom for granted.”
The Director General of GBC, William Apem-Darko, for his part, said the criticisms of the station by the public was as a result of the latter’s lack of understanding of the role of the public broadcaster.
He said the focus of the station was not to make profit but to promote national cohesion and democratic governance.
The three day extraordinary conference will end of Friday, January 29 with the election of new national executive for the union. It is on the theme “Emerging Challenges of Public broadcasting, the role of the union.”
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