
The Ministry of Communications has temporarily suspended enforcement actions against 64 radio stations ordered to cease operations, following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama.
The intervention offers a lifeline to the affected broadcasters, who had faced sanctions over multiple regulatory breaches.
Announcing the development in a Facebook post on Thursday, June 12, 2025, the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation confirmed the decision was a direct response to the President’s request for leniency.
“The President has asked that the National Communications Authority show clemency to the defaulting media houses. We have complied and issued a 30-day grace period,” the Minister wrote.
This grace period grants the stations a month to resolve their compliance issues, chief among them being expired broadcasting licences, failure to pay regulatory fees, delays in operational rollout, and breaches of key provisions under the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and its associated regulations, L.I. 1991.
Despite this temporary window, the Minister made clear that the original shutdown orders were not unlawful. “Let the facts, however, show that this action was in line with the law and not arbitrary. We would apply the law after the grace period,” the statement emphasized.
Earlier in the week, the National Communications Authority (NCA) had moved to enforce its regulatory mandate, triggering a widespread clampdown that impacted prominent media houses such as Happy FM, Wontumi FM, and Asaase Radio.
Reacting to the closure, Asaase Radio’s founder, Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, acknowledged the delay in licence renewal, noting that while the station was due to renew by October 2024, it only did so in December that year.
The Ministry’s 30-day moratorium is intended to give affected stations an opportunity to fulfill all outstanding obligations, including licence fee payments and technical compliance checks. Those that fail to meet the deadline risk permanent revocation of their broadcasting rights.
President Mahama’s intervention signals a more conciliatory approach, balancing regulatory enforcement with sensitivity to media freedoms and operational realities within Ghana’s broadcasting landscape.