In Ghana, west Africa, the Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) says plans to set up an independent media monitoring body are being frustrated by lack of funds.

NMC is a government agency responsible for registering, regulating and monitoring the activities of the media in Ghana.

Last week, speaking at an event organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra, NMC Chairman Kabral Blay Amiher (pictured) noted that since the commission’s launch in 1993, it had lacked the finances needed to monitor the country’s privately-owned media; which includes 250 radio stations, 1,500 newspapers, and 15 TV stations.

NMC recently advertised a tender for the supply of a media monitoring system, which Amihere said was expected to ensure that the state-owned media grant all political parties ‘fair and equitable access’ to their platforms.

He explained: ‘What the NMC has lacked is capacity, as well as the logistics to fulfil its gargantuan mandate given by society and the constitution. The issue of funds is so crucial and must be addressed by the state if the NMC must live up to its task.’

Web site: www.nmcghana.org .

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