State-run Radio Denies Atta Mills Access

Professor John Evans Atta Mills, former Vice President was allegedly denied access to speak on Volta Star Radio (VSR) at Ho, as part of his one-day visit to the Volta Region.

According to Mr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chairman of the Media Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Director of Radio told them that GBC was designing guidelines for political programmes when he contacted him about the programme.

He said in April, GBC refused Prof. Mills access to their network even when the party was ready to pay.

Mr. Spio-Garbrah said as a state institution, GBC's facilities should be accessible to every citizen at any time, especially for the discussions of issues of national interest.

Addressing the Regional House of Chiefs, Prof. Mills said he was confident that the NDC would return to power to complete its projects and programmes.

He advised supporters of the party to adapt to the changing circumstances since the party would come out stronger.

Togbega Gabusu VI, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, said as custodians of the land, chiefs welcome anybody to their fold irrespective of party affiliation.

He said he was happy that the last general election and handing-over were democratic and acclaimed by the international community. Togbega Gabusu advised the media to be circumspect by cross checking facts so that they do not soil the reputation of personalities.

The Director of GBC Radio, Yaw Owusu Addo, has been explaining that the GBC has a policy to cover every newsmaker but does not allow its studios to be used for political propaganda. "If Prof Mills had gone to the Ho Community Centre to hold a function or address party members, we could have covered him. It could even be live because he is an important newsmaker. But for him to ask us to stop our programme so that he could use our studio to address the people was unacceptable.

"This is not election period. During elections we draw programmes for all candidates to come to our studios to address the nation. "We can also arrange for him to appear on any of our discussion programmes but he should not ask that we allow him to use our studio to do propaganda."

He said if such a precedent were set, any politician could then just walk to any of the GBC's studio and demand that programmes should be suspended to enable him to speak to the people.

According to Mr. Spio-Garbrah the NDC was only asking for an interview for the former vice-president so he could reach a wider audience than he had the opportunity to meet with his views on issues of national importance.

Some members of the NDC have accused the Kufuor administration of media blackout on issues of the party, with specific reference to coverage from (GTV) Ghana Television.