Government has not approved sale of GBC channels, matter under probe - Information Minister

Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah has stated that government has not directed the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to sell any of its channels to private individuals or private investors.

The Minister told Radio Ghana in an interview that government has not given any instructions or any acquiesce that GBC sells any channel.

An alleged sale of one of the digital channels of GBC triggered a simmering tension among some staff of the state broadcaster some few weeks ago.GBC announced weeks ago that it was merging two of its channels – GBC Govern and GBC 24 – to create what it now calls GBC News channel. It explained the merger was done to ensure “efficiency”.

But highly placed sources within the Corporation have revealed the state broadcaster has entered into a contract with KBL, a privately owned company by the JOSPONG Group of Companies.

The 400,000-dollar contract will see the private company operate a new station, Adwinpa, on the erstwhile GBC Govern channel.

But reacting to the issue in parliament, the Information Minister said government has requested for an update on those arrangements in order for them to know the way forward.

‘’We as owners of GBC who hold it in trust for the people of Ghana have not given any instruction or any acquiesce that GBC sells any channels. We have not done any such thing. We have heard that they’ve entered some arrangements; we have asked them to furnish us through the National Media Commission (NMC) with the details of what they have done so that we as the custodians can take the right steps for the people of Ghana,’’ he noted.

He said the rules require the NMC to tell government what it is they have found when they went investigate the matter.

He asked Ghanaians to be rest assured that the government of Ghana will ensure that the public trust is protected.