The Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam George, has announced that he is officially writing to the National Media Commission (NMC) to give them a 30-day deadline to act on unwholesome content being aired on Ghanaian television.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on August 1, 2025, Sam George said the NMC will be expected to use the monitoring resources available at the National Communications Authority (NCA), which falls under his ministry, to clamp down on inappropriate content.
He made these comments while responding to a question about the growing concerns over movie piracy by Ghanaian TV stations.
He explained that the government has already held discussions with stakeholders, including the National Film Authority and the NMC, to come up with a framework to protect intellectual property rights and ensure responsible broadcasting.
“We had a joint stakeholder engagement where we discussed this issue and we’re beginning to come up with the framework that’s going to guide broadcast of material and protection of intellectual property rights. So, the point here is this.
“You would need to have a multi-sectoral approach where the Film Authority, the National Media Commission are looking at the issues and raising them with the Ministry of Government Communication. Where there are defaults or recalcitrant, we will step in with the regulator to enforce or sanction errant media houses,” he said.
Sam George added that his ministry has already provided the necessary infrastructure to help the NMC monitor media content.
According to him, the NMC has in the past complained about not having enough resources to monitor TV and radio stations, but the situation has now changed.
“In fact, let me just state that I’m writing officially to the National Media Commission. And that letter is to give the National Media Commission a 30-day mandate. But I’m giving them a 30-day mandate to take advantage of resource that the NCA, which is under my ministry, has put at their disposal. The Broadcast Monitoring Centre.
“The NMC has always complained that they don’t have capacity. We have built capacity as the NCA. But because by law we don’t deal with content, we’ve made that available to the NMC. We record and store for at least 90 days every single broadcast in this country, both radio and TV,” he said.
He noted that the NMC now has access to enough tools to monitor and act on media content.
However, if the NMC fails to act within the 30-day window, the NCA will be forced to step in, even though content regulation is not within its usual mandate.
“If the NMC fails to fulfil their mandate of dealing with content, the NCA may be forced, in the interest of public safety and morality, to begin to take licensing action on the basis of unwholesome content that we are seeing,” he added.
AK/EB
