President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has finally been able to set up a radio station in Accra, under the management of his daughter Gyankroma Akufo-Addo and cousin Gabby Otchere Darko.
The radio station, Asaase Radio, which has started test transmission is to be launched on the 16th of June, 2020 with the President’s cousin who doubles as Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta, presiding.
Since it is the President’s radio station, the National Communication Authority (NCA) was said to have been forced to allocate a frequency modulation 99.5 MHZ, that is so close to the 99.7 MHZ operated by Joy FM for over two and half decades. Industry watchers say, this is an attempt to rival Joy FM and steal some of their listeners.
Another unprecedented development is that, the Chairman of the regulator of radio frequencies, NCA, has been directed by the President to be a host on Asaase FM. Consequently, Mr Kweku Sakyi Addo, Chairman of NCA has been announced as host of a Sunday Night political show on Asaase FM.
Before President Akufo-Addo could get his dream FM station, he directed the same NCA to close down a number of radio stations considered as belonging to opposition party members.
Radio Gold, Montie FM, Radio XYZ, and many others accross the country were closed down in a gestapo style, one hot afternoon.
The move which has since been widely condemned remains one of the dark moments in the history of Ghanaian media.
President Akufo-Addo defended the closure of the radio stations and said although he appointed the Board Members and Executive Director of the NCA, he did not tell them what to do.
In just over a year of that move to silence perceived opposition radio stations, the President is now a proud owner of a radio station in Accra.
It is said that the President’s radio station already has in their fold some of the media personalities who recently left Joy FM and Multimedia. Juicy offers are said to have been given to such media men to jettison Multimedia for a new life at the President’s radio station.
More anon
SOURCE: DAILY POST