Filmmaker and media personality, Ola Michael
Filmmaker and media personality Ola Michael has strongly criticised the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for its failure to enforce laws protecting Ghana’s creative arts sector, particularly the film industry.
His comments follow recent accusations by Nigerian actress and filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye, who called out Ghanaian TV stations for allegedly airing her movies without proper licensing.
Speaking on United Showbiz on April 26, 2025, Michael blamed the NPP for neglecting the Film Act and the Broadcasting Bill, both passed in 2016 under former President John Mahama’s administration.
“We pursued the Broadcasting Bill for so long, yet the NPP wasted eight years without enforcing it. If they were serious about the creative arts, we wouldn’t be facing these issues today,” he said.
Michael explained that the Film Act required media houses to obtain licensing agreements before airing foreign films, with penalties for violations.
However, he claimed that the NPP failed to implement the law, allowing unchecked piracy and an influx of foreign content on Ghanaian screens.
“If that law were being enforced, any media house that aired a Hollywood or Nollywood movie without a licence could be closed down.
“But when the NPP came into power, they never enforced the law, and it was left useless. If that law were working, we would not be having this problem today,” he said.
He further stated that the law could have required media houses to allocate a percentage of their airtime to original Ghanaian content, which would have boosted local productions.
“The advantage of such a law was that it would have reduced the amount of foreign content in our airspace, creating room for local content.
“That law they refused to enforce would also have set a percentage for the amount of local and foreign content on our radio and TV stations. That is what the Nigerians are doing,” he added.
Watch the video below:
The NPP was not serious about the Creative Arts; they wasted 8 years without addressing the Broadcasting Bill. – Ola Micheal#UnitedShowbiz pic.twitter.com/3iSHEOQlxD
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) April 26, 2025
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