|
 Economy
- Development
- Financial
sector - Stock
market - Private
initiatives - Private
sector - Investors
- Open skies
policy - Ghana's
treasure trove - Tourism
- Agriculture
- Energy sources
- Telecom - Roads
- Rawlings Legacy
|
Interview with
Mr. John Mahama ,
the Minister of Communications,
August 4th 1999
|
What is the role of the Ministry of Communication in the present democratic multi-party era?
As you are aware Ghana is governed by the 1992 constitution and that constitution enjoins the government to be transparent, accountable, and run an open government.
All those obligations mean that the government must communicate with the people as much as possible and let the people know and be informed about what is going on. If you consider it in that light then it means that the Communications Ministry plays a very crucial role. Our duty in the current era is to make sure that the general public has as much information as possible about what the government is doing, and in that capacity we are responsible for issuing press statements on behalf of government, explaining policies. The minister of communications participates in mass media programs, radio programs, newspaper interviews like I am doing right now to explain to people what government is up to. The ministry also has responsibility for the telecommunication sector which means that telecommunication companies and information technology companies including computer technology all come under the administration of this ministry; and if you know the place that telecommunication and information technology occupy in the world today in terms of letting people have access to information ,then you can understand the work this ministry does to Ghana’s present democratic dispensation.
Internet all over the world has proven to be something very difficult to regulate. How is the Ghanaian government going about trying to put some measures of control on the Internet?
At the moment we are not attempting to regulate the Internet. Unlike in developed countries access to the Internet is not yet as wide spread, though compared to the other developing countries we are ahead and the Internet penetration rate is quite good, but it is not a wide spread problem that requires regulation.
Your ministry as you said is the mouthpiece to the government. To what extent is your role solely to defend the government in its actions?
As I said, our role is to let people understand why government does things that it does and to explain policies. A lot of times there can be misunderstandings about government policy and then it is our duty to clear that misunderstanding. I like to disabuse the minds of people that the ministry exists as a kind of propaganda organ for government. What we do is to put government’s actions, pronouncements and policies in the right contest and let people understand the reasoning behind what government does and the policies it brings out. We exist to give people correct information and erase misapprehensions about government’s activities.
Through our network of relationships both domestic and foreign feedback of public and international reaction is provided to government for requirement of policise and programmes.
Can you give us a clear example where the ministry has clarified some issue which has been distorted by the press?
There are so many examples. It is very difficult to remember some of the more classic ones but I will give you a few examples. There was a legal case between some newspapers and the 1st Lady and the matter was in court. Some newspapers continued to report on the case and apparently some of the reports were distorted. The 1st Lady’s lawyer therefore requested the court to take action against the journalists to restrain them from publishing distortions about the case and the court did that but the journalists went ahead and published some more and the court clamped them into jail for 1 month for contempt of court. Then the general impression that was created was that it was the government that had put the journalists in jail. As a Ministry what we did was to issue a press release to explain what the law of contempt was. In cases like this we come out and explain that these are the issues and that it is not the government which has put them in jail, but it is because they were in contempt of court. This is not a good example. A recent one was the meeting between the president and the Asantehene or King of Ashantis and it created a whole uproar. What the president talked about was to explain that it was necessary for all of us, government and traditional rulers and the people, to work to keep the country united. To illustrate this, he gave an example of the numerous radio stations that we have and said that on one of those radio stations someone called and made certain statements that almost created ethnic tension between certain groups. He said he had expected that the Asantehene and some of his elders would have come out and helped the government to allay the ethnic tensions that were developing. He was using it as an example and indicating why everybody must be on board in trying to create national unity and cohesion. But somehow when this clip was shown on TV a section up of the media took it up and said the president had been rude or insulted the chief. In a circumstance like that it is our duty to clarify exactly what happened and so I issued a press statement saying that we should concentrate more on the issue that the president was developing and the point that he was making rather than look at how he said it or at the irrelevant issues instead of the message. These are things that the ministry covers and there are several examples.
These are good examples of the freedom of press that is apparent here at the moment. How would you describe the media landscape in Ghana at the moment?
We have one of the freest presses on the continent today. We have a very vibrant media landscape with several newspapers and radio stations. People are free to write whatever they want and in that regard we have come a long way to think that not too long ago we had just 2 main daily newspapers that dealt with politics and economics and all that. All the private newspapers at that time dealt with sports and social issues and did not venture into politics because it probably was dangerous to do so. But now all private newspapers deal mostly with politics and economics and people have the freedom to write as much as they want and nobody gets prosecuted. We have the radio stations which do a lot of lively talk programs and I think it is a mark of the freedom and independence of the media that is enshrined in our constitution. The government respects the constitution.
How do you ensure that the media does not use it as a weapon against other institutions or individual people, as a weapon of attack as opposed to a medium of information?
People have the right of recourse to the law and so if a person feels he is being treated unfairly in any mass medium then he has the right to go to the court for redress and there are people who do that. The outcome in some cases has be to sanction the newspaper concerned, where it has been adjudged to be at fault.
Does that not just give them the publicity for people to go and buy the newspapers even more?
Not really. Actually it looks like the fashion is government bashing but that is what is exciting and with the excitement of the introduction of the freedom in media, people went to the extreme and everybody concentrates on politics and criticizes the government, feeling that that is what will sell the newspapers. The unfortunate thing is that it makes other sectors that are equally important and need the comments suffer. For example there are few papers that deal with social matters, everybody is concentrating on politics and economics and it looks like the readers are a bit fed up with so much political and anti-government write-ups so it has affected the circulation of a lot of the private papers and I think the time has come for them to take a look at the direction in which they are going and re-strategize if they are to keep their readers.
Does the government indirectly or directly sponsor some of the media?
Not really. We have what we call the state-owned media and the government has oversight responsibilities for these media but the constitution enjoins these media to be fair and balanced and so the government does not control their editorial policy. They have governing boards that appoint their editors, and the government cannot sack the editors so they are fairly independent in terms of their professional work.
In your view would you say that the media is playing its constitutional role?
It has served as an effective watchdog on the government. They are always barking at us and of course it has changed the attitude of public officers because you know now that there is a very alert media watching so you cannot afford to be complacent and you know if you do not carry out your duties the way you are supposed to you will have the media coming after you. It has been good but I will add that sometimes it has been excessive: without any justification the media publishes scandalous things about people without any real substantiation and in a lot of cases they have destroyed the reputation of very fine people. Even when the people go to court and eventually get justice in terms of a libel suit against a newspaper, even then you do not get a full restitution of your reputation. Somehow the allegation sticks in people’s mind and your reputation is destroyed for life in a lot of cases. So I will say that there have been excesses, some of the journalist have been irresponsible. There are a lot of fine journalist who are doing a very good job, but there are a lot of reckless ones too and I think it is the same every where in the world. So may be we need to keep trumpeting that it is necessary for us to have responsible journalism and we will keep talking about that.
As foreigners in Ghana seeking global information, which newspaper would you as the Minister of Communications, recommends?
That is difficult for me but the first newspaper that I read every day is the Daily Graphic I think it gives you a lot of information of what is happening without too much comment. It says "this happened here, this person was here", straight reporting and even where they have a columnist who gives his opinion then you realise this is that person’s opinion and I am going to read an analysis of some event by somebody. If you take the private press every story is like someone’s personal commentary. That is not an indictment of them, it is their style, but for me, the first paper that I read is the Daily Graphic and that is what I would recommend to any one.
| What about The Times?
Times is doing quite well now. They have changed editors twice. The previous editor went on retirement and his deputy acted for a while but he has just been shifted to the Weekly Spectator and someone else has been brought there. Times is one of the papers I read but after all that then the next one I read is the Ghanaian Chronicle which is reputed to be the largest circulating private paper. But as Minister of Communication I read every circulated newspaper and I do that everyday, taking in the most important issues.
What is the Ministry’s role when it comes to regulating the Telecommunication industry?
The ministry is mainly to formulate policies for the telecommunication industry and that is what we are doing. The industry has an official regulator and that is the National Communications Authority which is responsible to the ministry at the moment because the law that set it up states that in the absence of a board, the Minister of Communications carries out the functions of the board. As soon as a board is put in place then that authority is supposed to be autonomous and independent in order that the telecom. operators will have more confidence in its fairness. The ministry then becomes a purely policy advisory institution. The National Communications Authority will be the actual arbitrator that regulates disputes between the telecom. operators, licenses the operators, assigns frequencies and all that.
At the moment Telecommunications is under you, can you tell us what role you are playing within it?
We are helping with privatization, and liberalization of the telecommunications industry. We are formulating the vision and the operators are implementing that vision. In the next 10 years, we want to ensure that every community that can show a potential telephone-user demand of 500 people should get a telephone. That, for example, is our vision and it is for the operators to make operational that vision and we must supervise their attainment of that vision, look at how they are meeting their targets, and that the telephones are getting to the people.
Do you openly support them when they have problems?
Yes, when they have problems they can come to us and discuss the problems and we help them sort it out. There are several operators who import equipment and sometimes they have problems at the ports of entry in terms of customs duty. When they come here we give them a letter explaining that they should be allowed to clear their goods and it works out.
What is the ministry doing or telling the telecommunication players to do to try and implement the new technologies or take the new directions in the field of Internet as quickly and efficiently as possible? What kind of measures are you putting in?
It will help to say that we have asked N.C.A. and they have issued Internet service provider licenses to the 2 major telecommunication companies; Ghana Telecom and Westel and they are going to invest in Internet service provision. But, of course, we have licensed a lot of private operators too. What we are trying to do is to let the consumer get the best from the competition that will take place. The private sector is already up and away. There are 4 major Internet service providers in the country at the moment and there are a few smaller ones struggling to start up. So there is competition between the operators and these 2 that we have licensed are coming to join the private operators. We are trying to give the people of Ghana a choice in quality both in the Internet and telecommunication service.
We met some private mobile operators and they want to extend their network to Tamale and other parts of the country but it seems very expensive. They would like an agreement with Ghana Telecom for instance which already has the structure. Is there any new policy coming in to help them expand?
What we have been trying to tell the operators is that they should try and co-operate as much as possible. It is only common sense that if a telecom operator has a mast here it is a waste of money for another operator to build a mast next to it but that is what they are doing. Everybody has his own mast. There have been some cases of collaboration with Ghana Telecom and they allow them to use their mast for a fee, but that is what we try to encourage from the ministry. We have a few organizations that are collaborating. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, for example, has a very fine location up on the hill outside Accra, called Adjankote and that is the highest point in Southern Ghana. The G.B.C. has helped out a lot of the radio stations by renting out space on their mast for them to fix their transmitters. I think that this should translate into the telecommunications industry, they are not doing it enough but we are encouraging them to do it. A lot will depend on the Ghana Telecom since they are the biggest operator and if it comes up as a major concern, the ministry will try and persuade Ghana Telecom to allow private operators for a fee to put up.
Many have described some of the laws in the statutory books as obnoxious and against press freedom, for example the libel bill. Does the government agree with this and what is being done to review some of the laws?
This has been a running debate between the government and the press and if I want to speak selfishly as a government official then it is nice to enjoy the protection of libel laws, but if you look at the general direction in which the rest of the world is going then criminal libel laws are things that are gradually being taken out of statutory books in most countries. I believe that this goes hand-in-hand with the maturing process of the press. You can never completely root out irresponsibility and reckless reporting but even in Ghana if you look back from the period after 1992 to the present, you will see a qualitative improvement in terms of press coverage and reporting and I think there should be a lot of self control by the media. We have not established that yet but my belief is that as the criminal libel laws are taken off the statutory books the responsibility for checking and ensuring responsible reporting should rest with the press itself. At the moment we have a National Media Commission and I believe that that commission must be strengthened to be able to carry out its role efficiently and if it does so there will be no need for the criminal libel laws. So while looking at the need to take away those laws, we must be looking at the need to strengthen the institutions that would ensure that persons are ensured in terms of being recklessly maligned in the media. That is my opinion.
What is your vision for the communications- in a global sense- of Ghana?
My vision is that we have within the period of our Vision 2020, a very enlightened and well informed people who have easy access to information both in terms of reception and transmitting themselves and that in spite of where you are in the country you will have a fair opportunity to receive adequate information on what is going on and also to be able to transmit information to the rest of the country about how you feel and what is going on in your particular area. That is our vision.
How does that vision encapsulate the rest of West Africa and Africa as well?
While looking at it as a national vision we are also looking at it in terms of inter-connection not only with our neighbors in West Africa but the continent as a whole. That is why Ghana is very supportive of the restructuring of the Pan-African Telecommunications Union. We are one of the main countries involved in pushing what we call the African connection and that is Telecommunication’s renaissance for the continent including inter-connection of our neighbouring countries so that if we want to call our neighbor we do not have to call through London or Paris.
On a more personal level, what would you say has been your greatest achievement since you have been Minister?
That is difficult to say because I have not been Minister for long. I was elevated as Minister in November last year but before then I was Deputy Minister. What I would say has been my greatest achievement would be that I probably have been trying, though I do not know how well I have succeeded in making government as approachable and as close to the media as possible, trying to build bridges between the government and the media. That is what I have tried to do. How I have succeeded in doing that I do not know, it is up to other people to say but I have been faced with several challenges and I feel satisfied when we are able to achieve some successes. A few of the projects that come to mind is the film classification policy that the ministry passed in agreement with television operators a few weeks ago. There had been a lot of concern by the public about violence and sex in films and what we did was to call the television operators and agree with them to advance a classification policy which is going to come into legislation. We decided to introduce the classification symbols in advance of the legislation and they have started to use those symbols which will serve as a guide for parents and guardians as to the suitability of the film for which age. We have received a lot of appreciation from the public for that but that is just one.
As you know Forbes magazine reaches more than 4 million readers, mostly businessmen. We are talking about Ghana, considered to be the gateway to West Africa. I would like to have your final message to our readers?
I would like to tell them that when you look at the map of Ghana it is like a door. They should open that door and if they do so they will see a beautiful country, a safe country and a country that is good to do business in and I would encourage any one with money to invest to look at Ghana as a positive staging point to hit the African market. Every body is welcome, not only for business but even for pleasure. Ghana is a very beautiful country.
|
© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes
December 13th 1999 Issue.
Developed by AgenciaE.Tv |
|
|
|
| | | | | |
|
GHANA
