Onua FM/TV sues NMC over alleged harassment.
Management of Onua TV/Onua FM has filed a perpetual injunction against the National Media Commission (NMC) at the High Court in Accra, restraining the commission from taking any steps that adversely seek to impact the media operations of the company and its associates.
Onua TV/Onua FM is praying the court, among other things, to declare that some orders issued by the Commission to Media General subsidiaries are unlawful and that the “conduct of the NMC in refusing to give the stations an opportunity to be heard before imposing sanctions on them is a breach of the law and of natural justice.”
The NMC, on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, sent a letter to Media General, extending a deadline to Onua FM/TV and Captain Smart to apologize over comments the broadcaster made deemed “inciteful.”
The media organization explained that the suit follows numerous attempts by the NMC to use its constitutionally mandated office to harass its staff, stressing that it will not be cowed by “politically tainted harassment by the NMC.”
The company, in a statement dated November 29, argued that the Media Commission, by its actions, has constituted itself into a “complainant, a prosecutor, and a judge… and from its actions cannot now be trusted to be a fair and impartial arbiter in any case against Onua TV/Onua FM.”
Background
The NMC said Captain Smart had directly insulted the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and other Commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) as “beasts” during a recent broadcast.
It further stated that Captain Smart had claimed that these officers embezzled monies meant for soldiers on peacekeeping operations but had offered no evidence to support his claims.
The NMC, therefore, gave Onua TV/FM and Captain Smart until November 19, 2023, to withdraw the insults and apologize to the CDS and his commanders; apologize to the Ghanaian public for the use of vulgar language, and put in measures to stop the dangerous behaviour of the station and improve the station’s capacity for regulatory compliance.
However, Onua TV/FM, in its letter dated November 21, 2023, allegedly failed to address the directives of the commission.
