Afenyo-Markin Dismisses Mahama’s Radio Station Directive as Political Optics
Afenyo-Markin Dismisses Mahama’s Radio Station Directive as Political Optics
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Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has cast doubt on the sincerity of President John Mahama’s directive to restore the operations of 62 radio stations recently shut down by the National Communications Authority (NCA), describing the move as “mere optics.”
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, June 12, Afenyo-Markin suggested that the presidential order was a politically motivated reaction to public criticism rather than a principled stand for media freedom or regulatory reform.
“Mr. Speaker, these things are often done for appearances, especially when there’s a public backlash,” he said. “It’s a well-crafted statement, but we view this so-called clemency with skepticism.”
President Mahama had earlier instructed the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation to work with the NCA to immediately reinstate the affected stations. The directive emphasized the need to strike a balance between upholding regulatory standards and preserving media freedoms.
The President’s decision came in the wake of an enforcement operation by the NCA that saw stations such as Happy FM, Asaase Radio, and Wontumi FM taken off air for breaching provisions of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 1991).
While the directive has been praised in some quarters as a show of responsive leadership, Afenyo-Markin and others in the opposition remain unconvinced, viewing the gesture as a calculated public relations move rather than a substantive policy shift.
