Communication policies in civilian and military regimes

This is a critical evaluation of the media legislation in Ghana since independence. It reveals the chequered government-press relationship that perpetuated a timid press in Ghana, but which is tending to thaw under the weight the new media legislations promulgated by the reformed President Jerry Rawlings' government. The article gives an instructive glimpse into the press. It argues that the former president sought to use the media as a tool for propaganda and ideological indoctrination, which he wrongly believed was necessary not only for national and continental unity but also for Ghana's economic and political maturity. The author argues that the Pan-Africanist president engineered the enactment of media laws that were aimed at entrenching his monopolist economic policies as well as his endeavour to establish political monotheism and strong anti-imperialist stand in Ghana. The inevitable result was a complete strangulation of the press, culminating in the state emerging as the sole player in the industry. Freedom of expression became inconsistent with his "consciencism", therefore, was utterly denied. Human rights was indeed treated with contempt by the CPP government, if the harsh legislations are to go by. Surprisingly, the media in Ghana got their first states of pseudo-freedom under a military junta, led by military strongman, Busia. This weak tolerance of press freedom and, by extension, civil liberties, was continued by Dr. HuUa Limann's government. The use of satellite dishes were allowed under this Third Reich for the time in Ghana. That notwithstanding, both the regimes failed to decriminalize libel and repeal draconian sedition laws, that negatively impacted on media operations. The paper also points out that the state monopoly of the airwaves remained intact. Likewise, the paper argues, any perceived press liberties in Ghana were impaired and contradicted by legal decrees like the Provision of Rumours Decree, which criminalized broadcasting or printing of anything seen to be against the National Liberation Council, the Police or the Armed Forces. This, the author says, created a widespread 'culture of silence' among media practitioners. The author recognizes the positive developments in the media industry by way of relatively friendly media bills, but, at the same time, regrets the lack of a clear policy to deal with the New Information World Order. He picks issues with the domination of the Ghanaian broadcast media by cheap, culturally imperialistic, alien programmes. The lackadaisical development of the rural press is lambasted while calling on the government to protect the poor's right to relevant information and their sources. The paper concludes by calling for the creation of a truly democratized legal infrastructure for the media to enable them to participate actively and fully in national development.